


After Everything

by Emberleaf23



Series: Danplan/ActuallyOddPlan Past Lives AU [3]
Category: DanPlan, Undertale (Video Game), actuallyoddplan
Genre: DP bros don't do much, Evil Frisk (Undertale), I'll add more tags later, M/M, On Hiatus, i'm just tired rn, more death yall
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 10:28:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28469796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emberleaf23/pseuds/Emberleaf23
Summary: 6 friends. 3 who remember their long dead prince. 2 to blame for their deaths. 1 mountain, 1 race, and so many dying souls.Remember when we were happy?(ON HIATUS FOR FORSEEABLE FUTURE [I need to up my grades and I'm struggling with the story, trying to decide if continuing with this series is a good idea, considering, well, everything])
Relationships: Annabelle | Melodify & Joseph Catalanello & Jay Ko & Hosuh Lee & Daniel Lim & Stephen Ng, Hosuh Lee/Stephen Ng, Jay Ko/Daniel Lim
Series: Danplan/ActuallyOddPlan Past Lives AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1813726
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	1. Prologue

Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: Humans... and monsters.

These races lived in peace, sharing resources and having feasts.

But the human king hated the kind monsters, ordering a merciless attack.

The war lasted three days, monster dust clouding the skies.

Not a single human life was taken, and the monsters were imprisoned underground, where they'd fled the fighting.

Years later, a human climbed the mountain and fell into the underground, being adopted into the Dreemur family as the new Princess of Monsters.

Together, the Prince and Princess met two skeleton brothers, only 13 and 9. They all became friends.

But then, the Princess died. And then the Prince.

The younger brother was allowed to forget, but the older?

Sans was really fucking sick of humans.

He wanted to avenge them. Ariel, Chara, Azzy, and every monster who'd died in the war.

He promised himself to never show mercy to a human again.

When had they ever shown mercy to him?


	2. Finding The Underground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of the end

Hosuh and Jo were climbing a pretty mountain, following a small trail up the side. It was wonderful: the long, green grass, the flowers swaying with the wind, robins and blue jays chirping and singing in the birch trees.

They'd decided to go on a walk and get some fresh air, and there they were.

Hosuh slowed as they got to the top. "Hey, Hosuh?" Jo asked. "We're pretty high up. Can we go back down?"

Hosuh turned to him with a soft smile. "I kinda wanna stay a little longer. You can go and head down. I'll be behind you in a little bit."

Jo blinked. "Oh, yeah. Just... come back soon. We don't wanna worry our friends, now do we?"

Above them, 7 crows rested on a branch.

Hosuh waited until Jo was out of sight and earshot before standing. "I'm so sorry, guys, but I can't stay here." He whispered, the wind blowing his long sleeves to reveal deep cuts in his wrists.

He quickly found a cave with a deep pit in the middle, where he was unable to see the bottom. "Perfect." He murmured. 

He took a deep breath, apologizing to his friends under his breath.

Then, he jumped into the darkness, a ribbon he'd found familiar keeping his hair up.

\---

Jo got about halfway back down the mountain before deciding to wait for Hosuh. He always felt less nervous around other people, especially on a small path surrounded by trees.

He sat and waited, expecting Hosuh to show up a few minutes later.

He waited.

And waited.

And waited.

_And waited._

He finally decided to go back for Hosuh as it was turning nightfall, the stars glimmering in the pink skies as he hiked back up.

He looked everywhere, but he couldn't find Hosuh for the life of him.

A single crow watched him with beady eyes.

He finally circled back to a small cave, in which he found a giant pit.

He walked towards it slowly, only intending to peek over the sharp, rocky edge in fearful curiosity.

Meaning he didn't notice the vine lining the side he was on. Where Hosuh had stepped over it, Jo tripped, yelling in shock as he fell into the abyss, terror racing through his mind.

\---

Stephen was getting worried.

Jo and Hosuh hadn't gotten back from their walk/hike that afternoon, and it was coming night.

"If Jo and Hosuh don't get back soon, I'm going after them." He said, looking out the window at the mountain with worry.

Dan looked up from his book. "Jo and Hosuh are strong. They'll be back."

Ann nodded with a small grin. "They'll be fineeee. They've probably just stopped to admire the stars and the sunset. They're good."

Gavin smiled in agreement. "Yeah, calm down! Being anxious is Hosuh's thing."

Stephen nodded, but the worry still tainted his thoughts. "Yeah, you guys are right. They're fine."

Around 10 minutes later, everyone went to bed, leaving the porch light on for their friends.

Little did they know, they wouldn't see their friends again.

Not for a long time.

\---

Stephen woke up first the next morning. He went down the stairs to the kitchen, starting the pot brewing for coffee. Because of the growing sunlight, he didn't notice the porch light still on.

Everyone followed him soon after. Dan said they should let Hosuh and Jo sleep in, since they'd probably gotten back late. Everyone agreed with that logic.

Later, around 11, Stephen finally announced that he was going to go wake the 'sleepyheads.'

He knocked on Hosuh's door loudly, opening it when there was no response. But he looked around and realized that Hosuh wasn't in his room, completely missing a tear-stained note on his pillow.

He frowned, walked out, and went to Jo's room.

He opened the door.

No Jo, either.

 _Why_ were they gone?

Unless-

Stephen raced down the stairs and out the front door to the porch, looking to the porch light.

It was still on.

 _"Oh no, oh no, oh no..."_ He whispered, the worry from the night before screaming in his head.

Jay came out, confused. "Stephen, what the...?" He trailed off, seeing that the light was still on.

"They didn't come back." Stephen whispered, fear dulling his usually vibrant eyes.

Jay took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "...We should go after them."

Stephen straightened. "I will. I already have shoes on, anyway."

Jay looked like he wanted to go instead, but nodded slowly. "If you're not back by sunset, one of us will come after you. Please be careful. You guys are the only friends I've got."

Stephen softened, nodding. "I'll be careful. And don't throw away your shot."

Jay let out a small, surprised laugh at the reference. "Go on, Hamilton."

Stephen laughed. "Tell my brother that I'll be fine, 'kay?"

Jay smiled. "Sure, jerk."

Stephen rolled his eyes and raced off towards the mountain.

Elias walked out. "What's going on?"

Jay sighed and gestured to the flickering porch light. "Hos and Jo didn't come back last night. Stephen's going after them. I told him to be back be sunset."

Elias took a deep breath. "Let's hope we don't have to go after him too."

\---

Stephen was poking around the mountain, searching for any signs of his friends.

He finally came across a cave a few hours into looking, thinking that maybe Hosuh and Jo camped out in it.

A crow cawed nearby.

It was a small cave, carved into a massive, twisted chunk of rock. The entrance was flanked by several birch trees, lining the path, vines draping the entrance, rocky spikes hanging down.

Stephen slipped inside, freezing at what he saw.

There was a massive pit carved in the floor, the sunlight catching the stalactites hanging under the edge.

Tangled in a snare of thorny vines, there was a ripped, dark blue shoelace.

Why was that important?

Because Jo always wore dark blue shoelaces.

He untangled the shoelace, scooped it up, and shoved it in his pocket.

Stephen couldn't see the bottom, but he knew that was were Jo and Hosuh were.

He had to get down, had to help them.

None of the vines were long enough or strong enough to hold his weight to allow him to climb back out, and the sides were definitely too steep to climb.

So he went back out, grabbed several vines and tied them into a good rope.

He tied that around a steady boulder and then himself, and started lowering himself into the hole.

As soon as he was below a certain point, a glowing barrier appeared right above him.

He slammed his fist against it.

Nothing happened.

It was like a brick wall.

So now he couldn't get out, and his fist was bruised and he may have had some broken knuckles or something.

Great.

And to top it all off?

The vine snapped.

\---

Stephen didn't come back at sunset.

Gavin was practically vibrating with worry, fear swirling in his violet eyes, tears close to running down his cheeks. 

Dan, Jay, Ann, and Elias were also pretty worried, but they were better at hiding it.

Well, only Elias was good at hiding it, but the point is, everybody was really worried about their friends.

Finally, watching the sunset, Jay rose to his feet. "It's time. Someone has to go after him."

Gavin rushed to his feet. "I will! I'll-"

Dan stood. "No, Gavin. You've worried yourself sick. You need to calm down and rest. I've known Hosuh for a long time and Stephen for nearly as long, I know where they'd go. I know that you know Stephen, but we're also looking for Hosuh and Jo."

Elias got to his feet. "Dan-"

Dan cut him off. "I'll be fine. If I'm not back by morning-"

Jay cut _him_ off. "No, Dan. If you really are going, you're _leaving_ in the _morning._ And you better stay in touch with us. I am _not_ losing you as well."

There was a moment where Dan looked into Jay's multicolored eyes, seeing extreme worry and fear. But Jay was pushing through it, hoping with all his heart that Dan would come back okay.

That they _all_ would come back okay.

Dan sighed, then nodded. "Yeah, okay. My phone's broken, though. How will I keep in touch?"

Elias met his eyes from under his long, sapphire blue bangs. "You can take the old phone. You can't do more than call, but it has an amazingly strong signal. It'll work on the mountain."

Dan gave a look, which Elias caught. "And no, we're not giving it to you until tomorrow. Guys, let's go to bed. They're probably together, and they're strong. They can last 'til tomorrow."

\---

Dan arrived at the top of the mountain, the old phone in his pocket and a toy knife in his hand in case something attacked him. He wasn't willing to take one from Stephen's collection, and they had no kitchen knives.

He noticed a crow on a tree branch, and continued on.

He was about to check out a cave, but before he could actually see what what was inside it, a grizzly bear came out of nowhere. Dan froze, but it was already approaching. He backed into the cave, not knowing of the drop behind him.

The bear roared, making him scramble back in terror.

Suddenly, the ground disappeared under his feet, and he screamed as he tumbled down into the darkness.

\---

The cycle repeated.

When Dan didn't come back, Jay went after him, bringing his old boxing gloves in case he needed them.

When Jay didn't come back, Ann went after him and her friends, bringing Jay's cowboy hat he'd bought as a joke and a revolver.

And when she didn't come back, Gavin went.

But it had rained the day before, and the ground was loose.

He'd fell, the ground crumbling underneath him, crashing onto a mildly flat rock face.

When he didn't come back by noon, Elias went after them all.

He found Gavin, and had to abandon finding the others to get Gavin help for his head wound.

Gavin lost his memories, staying in the hospital for almost 13 weeks, and Elias didn't leave his side.

He wanted to go after his friends and brother, he really did, but he couldn't leave Gavin alone. Not without any memories.

He knew they were strong, and he was sure that they were together.

They would be fine.

They had to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The 'in the hospital for the 13 weeks' thing is something I actually looked up, so I'm pretty sure it's accurate, but correct me if I'm wrong


	3. The Story Of The Wronged

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When man meets monsters for the first time in many years

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: Blood, Death, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicidal (urges, I guess???)

Hosuh never expected to survive his fall.

He'd thought he'd die. He'd wanted to die.

Yet he felt his fall cushioned by a bed of golden flowers.

He wondered through the Ruins, wondering how he could've possibly had such bad luck.

He met Toriel, who was really nice. She guided him through the Ruins, humming soft melodies and asking him about himself and his friends.

He heard a strange ribbit, turning to see a weird creature that looked a bit like a frog but was definitely not a frog.

Hosuh jumped and ran away, a sharp rock that was sticking out of the wall slicing the ribbon in his hair and making it fall out. He rushed back to Toriel, too scared to go back for it.

Toriel let him leave the Ruins without much persuasion, only asking him to bring a coat, since Snowdin lay on the other side.

He wondered through Snowdin, feeling as though someone was constantly watching him. 

He spared every monster he encountered, and slipped through Waterfall with ease, avoiding Clamshell, the Captain of The Royal Guard, and waving to some ghosts on the way.

But Hotland was a different story. He'd bought a used Apron and a small pan from a nice rabbit in Snowdin, hoping he'd never have to use the pan.

But, he lost both pretty quickly. He didn't mind losing the now stained apron much- it only made him even hotter and more uncomfortable- but the pan was a problem.

Especially since he was being kidnapped by a strangely angry skeleton, though he was kinda sure he knew why.

He'd heard a lot from the monsters: How they needed 7 human souls, how they were gonna kill any humans who came down, how the Royal Guard and various sentries were lookouts for humans.

So yeah, he was pretty sure he knew why when he came face to face with the King, who looked oddly... sad?

"Human, do you know why you are here?" His voice rumbled, deep and unreadable.

Hosuh took a few deep breaths, trying to make his heart stop hammering in his chest.

"To die." He said, meeting the King's eyes. "You need my soul and 6 more, though I'm not sure why."

"We need it to be free. We're going to destroy the Barrier and then humanity. That's practically what you did to us, after all." The skeleton who'd captured him growled, his white eyes disappearing and being replaced by glowing blue eyes.

Hosuh frowned, then sighed. "I'm sorry. The legends never mentioned how kind you were. I'll let you take my soul, but, if you don't mind, could I at least know what really happened? 

"The legends were clearly wrong, and I have a feeling something else that made you guys only madder at us."

The skeleton narrowed his eyes. "Why would you let us take your soul? I mean, we're gonna take it, but why _let_ us?"

Hosuh tried for a tiny, depressing smile. "It's why I climbed Mount. Ebbot in the first place. To die."

Both monsters quieted, the skeleton freezing, like he'd known someone who'd done that before, his eyes turning pitch black.

So, they explained everything. From why they couldn't win the war to the deaths of Chara and Asriel, which had only happened 6 years before.

Hosuh was quiet with thought after they'd finished, pausing before summoning his soul. "Take it." He murmured.

The skeleton- Sans, he'd learned- was frozen again. "You're just like her." He whispered.

Hosuh nudged his soul forward. "Maybe. But take it. I don't need it, not anymore. Perhaps I never did."

Sans glanced at the King, gaze unsteady. The King, Asgore, gulped before looking away and nodding.

Sans took out a jar of sorts and scooped Hosuh's soul inside, whispering an apology before shutting the lid.

Hosuh's body slumped, basically dead without his soul.

Sans put the jar on a pedestal that sank into the ground afterwards, then picked up Hosuh's body.

"Leave me." Asgore whispered in badly hidden grief. Sans nodded and left, slipping out of the throne room and down a flight of stairs, placing Hosuh's body in a stone coffin.

He engraved a few things on it, including a soul he'd paint green a little later.

_1st SOUL  
SOUL of KINDNESS  
Hosuh_

He sighed and whisked his attack away. He went home to Papyrus, but he couldn't stop thinking of the kind human.

Maybe Chara hadn't been the only one, after all.

\---

Jo was surprised at the bed of flowers, and grateful that it only left him with a bruise or 2 from his fall. He quickly got up and excitedly explored, bumping into Toriel, who seemed pretty surprised.

She took him back to her home, giving him warm tea and wonderful butterscotch-cinnamon pie. He took a nap, waking quite a few hours later. As he slipped out of his room, Toriel asked him if he wished to explore the Ruins further.

He agreed, and they went on a walk, going back to the bed of flowers. As they slipped down the hallway, someone jumped down and rolled on impact, stopping in front of them.

Stephen looked up and blinked. "...Jo?"

Jo grinned. "Stephen! I'm so glad you're here!"

Stephen got to his feet. "Yeah, uh. Two questions. 1- Where's Hosuh? And B- 2, sorry- Why is there a goat monster?"

Jo lost his smile. "I have no idea where Hosuh is. I fell, so he may still be on the surface, for all we know. As for Toriel, I think... I think this is Mount. Ebbot."

Stephen froze, then smacked his forehead. "Of course this is Mount. Ebbot. Just our luck, huh? Is she, uh, nice?"

Jo nodded confidently. "Yeah. She gave me this wonderful butterscotch-cinnamon pie. It was awesome."

Toriel cut in. "It seems that you two know each other. This is indeed Mount. Ebbot, and it is dangerous for you both to be in the Underground. However, you said you were looking for your friend, Hosuh, correct?"

Stephen narrowed his eyes. "Yeah?"

Toriel sighed. "A human with that name fell down yesterday afternoon. He seemed sad and a little frustrated, at what, I'm not quite sure. He left the Ruins only a few hours later."

Stephen straightened. "Then we're going after him. Where is the exit?"

Toriel looked worried. "I will let you go, but you must be careful. Snowdin is freezing, and you both must be starving. Come, my children."

She turned and walked down the hall, Jo and Stephen falling into step behind her.

"Can we really trust her?" Stephen questioned quietly. Jo nodded. "Yes. She's really nice."

Stephen gave him a skeptical look, but didn't comment further.

On the way, Toriel explained more about the underground and how to deal with monsters if they ever encountered any. The two listened carefully, nodding along, even Stephen quiet.

They reached the tiny home and stepped inside, Stephen looking around in surprise. "This is... actually a pretty nice place."

Jo led him into the living room, where they had tea and pie and talked with Toriel.

An hour later, they had cloaks and packed food and were heading out into the frost of Snowdin, Stephen rather annoyed since he'd lost his shoes and Toriel had had only ballet shoes and he'd been wearing only shorts, so he'd been forced to wear a tutu.

They got through Snowdin okay, Sans unwilling to attack in case they were also nice. He let them escape to Waterfall, where he figured Clamshell would solve his dilemma.

And indeed she did.

She'd chased them, forcing them to hide in a small alcove behind a waterfall, Stephen throwing off the tutu now that it wasn't cold but keeping the shoes because of the sharp rocks.

She found and attacked them, Stephen fighting her and telling Jo to run.

She killed Stephen, sealed his soul, and then chased down Jo, who was also immediately killed.

She gave Jo's cloudy glasses and notebook (having been torn when he ran away) to a young snapping turtle named Gerson who was wading through the marsh, searching for things.

She picked up their bodies, bringing their souls and remains to the Castle.

Asgore hadn't been there at the time, so Sans had to put away the souls, Clamshell joining him as he descended the stairs to the prepared coffins.

Clamshell placed their bodies down inside them, Sans sealing them shut after a moment of hesitation. 

"Which soul went to which body, which was killed first, and what were their names?"

Clamshell blinked, but told him. "The one with purple hair had the blue soul, was killed first, and the other called him Stephen. As for the other, Stephen called him Jo."

Sans sighed. "Thank you. You can go, Captain."

She saluted and left, leaving Sans to engrave the coffins.

_2nd SOUL  
SOUL of INTEGRITY  
Stephen_

_3rd SOUL  
SOUL of PERSEVERANCE  
Jo_

Sans sighed. 

He was starting to hate his job.

His urge to get revenge was fading rapidly.

What if humans weren't as bad as he'd thought?

No, they couldn't be. They'd sealed the monsters underground, killed Asriel, and made Chara attempt suicide.

Humans were awful.

He knew that.

With a shake of his head, he left to inform Asgore of the new souls.

\---

Dan fell and met Toriel, walking with her as she explained the workings of the underground. He tried to call his friends, but Toriel informed him that signals couldn't pass through the Barrier.

Dan then tried to call Stephen, Jo, or Hosuh. But nobody picked up. 

Little did Dan know, Jo had left his phone at their house, Hosuh had tossed his away somewhere in Hotland, since he didn't need it, and Stephen had accidentally dropped his phone into the water in Waterfall.

Dan sighed, giving it to Toriel to keep since he didn't need it. And since he wasn't willing to hurt the monsters anymore, he left the toy knife in some corner of the Ruins.

But when he reached Snowdin, he quickly had a problem.

A young monster who was a very cheerful skeleton dropped his teddy bear in the snow. Dan had found it for him, but Sans only noticed when Papyrus was hugging his teddy bear and Dan was smiling.

Sans, very over-protective of his brother and thinking Dan was threatening him, quickly escorted Dan off to a dark corner of the woods and killed him, terrified out of his mind for Papyrus.

Sans didn't know his name until Papyrus had said it that evening, telling how he'd helped find his bear. Sans now deeply regretted killing Dan, but nevertheless, he finished the engraving the next morning.

_4th SOUL  
SOUL of PATIENCE  
Dan_

Sans was feeling more uneasy now.

He knew Asgore had lost his anger rather quickly, but had Sans lost his yet?

He couldn't tell anymore.

\---

Sans met Jay in Snowdin on sentry duty. "Oh, hey, kid. What'cha doin' here?"

"Doesn't matter. Move out of the way. I need to go." Jay really wasn't in the mode.

His crush had disappeared, along with almost all of his friends, Jay had ended up stuck under a mountain, there were monsters everywhere that were trying to kill him, and he was hungry.

And a random skeleton guy was standing in the way of him fixing all of those problems.

So, yeah, he wasn't exactly feeling nice.

The skeleton narrowed his eyes. "Kid, I can't just let ya go. I'm a sentry lookin' for humans. Capturing you is my job. So, uh, no- well, some hard feelings, but ya need come with me."

Oh, hell no. Jay was not gonna get his soul reaped by some lazy skeleton with a stupid grin.

In hindsight, maybe he shouldn't have attacked the seemingly harmless skeleton.

Sans reacted completely on instinct when he saw the fist coming at him.

That instinct?

Attack.

Bones erupted from the ground, stabbing Jay and stopping the blow.

Sans stumbled back in shock, a gasp escaping his li- uh. A gasp escaping his lun- ugh.

Ya know what.

I'm done.

Sans gasped.

There.

He really wanted to slap himself.

Nevertheless, he sealed Jay's soul in another jar and brought his body back, teleporting straight to the coffins.

_5th SOUL  
_ _SOUL of BRAVERY  
_ _Jay_

Sans honestly had no idea what he was doing anymore.

What's that? How did Sans know Jay's name?

Just go with it, I'm tired.

\---

When Ann came, Sans stayed away. He didn't interact with her in any way, just watched.

Watched as she made friends with everyone, despite the revolver she carried.

However, she'd forgotten ammo, so she left it in a trash heap in Waterfall.

However, she lost the hat in the same area, which she was really upset about, since it was Jay's hat.

She finally met Sans in the Judgement Hall.

"You're near the end of your journey." He murmured.

Ann nodded. "Yeah, I am. But, excuse me, before it can end, I need to find my friends. They fell down here before me. Have you seen them?"

Sans froze. "...What are their names?" He whispered.

"Jay, Jo, Stephen, Dan, and Hosuh. Where are they? Do you know?"

He told her what happened, knowing he owed her an explanation and an apology. She stood silent for a few seconds.

"Ann?" Sans murmured.

She suddenly lunged at him, rage burning in her eyes.

And again, Sans' instincts acted before his mind could.

Ann died, and Sans was forced to seal up her soul so she wouldn't die in vain, at least.

He placed her beside her friends in her own coffin.

 _6th SOUL_  
SOUL of JUSTICE  
Ann

He wasn't angry anymore, he knew that now.

He was just empty, his driving force gone.

\---

A thousand years later, another human came.

The human, Frisk, was kind to everyone, just like Ann.

She was brave, like Jay.

She was smart, like Jo.

She was kind, like Hosuh.

She was patient, like Dan.

She did the right thing even when no one saw, like Stephen.

She was just like Chara.

Or at least, that was what Sans had thought.

\---

Hosuh had woken up in another body, sharing it with 5 other souls. He could feel his friends, their pain and happiness and sadness and confusion and _loneliness_ and-

Well, it was a whirlwind of powerful emotions.

But the strongest of them was rage, and it was all pointed at the monsters.

They'd killed them, murdered them and murdered their friends. The other 5 felt that rage, and, mixed with Flowey's rage, it was almost overwhelming.

But Hosuh didn't share it. He knew why the monsters did it, he knew it wasn't their fault.

But he only calmed his friends slightly. It was too loud to really be heard or noticed.

He couldn't stop Omega Flowey.

But maybe he could stop something else.

He reached out, attacking the human personally.

He felt surprise flash from the others, stopping them in their tracks, and ignored them.

He gave the human the ability to ACT, and they took it.

He changed the flames to eggs, giving as many as possible in such little time.

He then turned and strained against Flowey's control, screaming his true name into the head of their being.

_"Asriel!"_

Flowey slowed in shock, allowing the others to focus on Hosuh's memories and help the human.

And they did, changing gloves to thumbs ups and bullets to flowers and knives to bandages and sharp stars to soft music notes.

They whispered apologies, now knowing what he knew.

They all turned on Flowey, not allowing him to use them and their souls.

They knew what he'd been through, but they couldn't let him hurt the monsters.

When Asriel absorbed every single soul, they felt Sans' deep and utter regret. They didn't remember Omega Flowey, but they knew that Sans was sorry.

Asriel used their power to destroy the Barrier.

Such an action, amazingly, didn't destroy their souls, leaving them just kinda floating around on the surface. But it was better then the darkness of the Underground.

But soon, that all changed.

They overheard her muttering about how being nice had been so boring, betrayal sparking in their souls as they watched the human reset.

\---

Hosuh was walking through Snowdin, enjoying the snow and the wonderful smells wafting from the frosted shops, experiencing with a fresh mind. 

He had no idea that it had been one of countless times.

But that was about to change.

Buried in a large pile of snow, Hosuh found a ripped page of sorts. It seemed pretty old, not ancient, but definitely not new.

He slipped into a quiet corner and studied it.

It was written in an ancient language, one he didn't know.

Or at least... one he'd thought he didn't.

So he was surprised to find that he could read it easily, better than English.

It was a memory spell, one that could be performed on anyone, even the creator of the spell, and one that returned any memory that was lost or forgotten.

He had no idea how he knew the motions or the method, but suddenly, he was drawing shapes in the air, leaving a silver trail wherever his finger traced.

Circles and lines and smaller circles and some dots, all surrounded by two massive circles just inside of each other, binded by more dots.

He let it hover for a second, taking a deep breath before activating it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter while listening to only Curses and also Pretty Little Things, both songs by the Crane Wives. They felt like the right songs for the occasion.
> 
> I also described the symbols for Hosuh's spell the same as Gallifreyan writing, wanting to throw in a sneaky reference. Hope someone got it.
> 
> Sorry for the sadness this time, next chapter is happier! ...Maybe.
> 
> Also, yeah, Sans had the flimsiest reason ever for killing Dan, but I needed it for the plot so eh.
> 
> I'll go back and edit in a better reason later


	4. Remember When We Were Happy?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hosuh remembers the resets (and some other things)

_Hosuh was walking through Snowdin, enjoying the snow and the wonderful smells wafting from the frosted shops. He had no idea that it had been one of countless times._

_But that was about to change._

_Buried in a large pile of snow, Hosuh found a ripped page of sorts. It seemed pretty old, not ancient, but definitely not new._

_He slipped into a quiet corner and studied it._

_It was written in an ancient language, one he didn't know._

_Or at least... one he'd thought he didn't._

_So he was surprised to find that he could read it easily, better than English._

_It was a memory spell, one that could only performed on the spell creator, and one that returned any memory that was lost or forgotten._

_He had no idea how he knew the motions or the method, but suddenly, he was drawing shapes in the air, leaving a silver trail wherever his finger traced._

_Circles and lines and smaller circles and some dots, all surrounded by two massive circles just inside of each other, binded by more dots._

_He let it hover for a second, taking a deep breath before activating it._

\---

The energy threw him against a wall, and he sat there, head pounding.

When his eyes opened, they were glowing silvery white, like almond-shaped moons.

Memories of his past lives roared in his mind, swirling like a whirlwind of emotions. They were immediately joined by memories of the timelines, staining it blood red and dusty white.

After the single pacifist timeline, the human had only done genocide timelines, seeming to grow stronger each time.

After what seemed like forever, Hosuh stumbled on, leaving the page.

He never should've helped that damn human.

\---

Hosuh remembered, and continued remembering, even as the world reset.

He had questions, several questions.

Did anyone else remember?

Could he make others remember?

Why was the human resetting over and over?

And most importantly, how did he stop it?

He had no idea how to answer any of them.

Well, until his execution, that was.

After Sans and Asgore explained, Hosuh sat quiet for a little.

"I'm really sorry that happened. I think it's only right to give up my soul."

The two blinked, Hosuh catching something in Sans' eye.

"But before that, I've got a question, Sans."

Sans stopped. Hosuh had never asked a question, not like that, and he hadn't done anything to make it different.

"...Shoot."

"That look in your eye... gives me a feeling that you know."

"Know... what?"

"That this has happened before."

Sans froze.

Hosuh kept on speaking. "Surely you know what's going on. Does anyone else remember? Why do they keep resetting? Can we stop-"

Sans cut him off. "I don't know if we can stop that thing, 'cause I sure as hell don't think it's human. But now's not the time. You know how this goes."

Hosuh sighed. "Next time, then." He held out his soul.

\---

Hosuh slipped out of the Ruins in a new timeline. Sans was leaning against a tree, twirling a bone in the air. "Sup, kid."

Hosuh smiled quietly. "Hello, Sans. It's been a while."

Sans snorted. "You could say that. Now, I believe we both have some explaining to do. C'mon. I'll take ya to Grillby's, my treat."

Hosuh frowned. "That's... a bit of a walk."

"Don't worry. I have a shortcut."

Suddenly, they were inside Grillby's, startling the poor monsters inside.

Sans sat at the bar, patting the seat beside him.

Hosuh nervously followed while Grillby huffed at Sans for the sudden entrance.

"I know, sorry, Grillbz. I won't do it again."

Grillby signed something that Hosuh just barely understood. _Yes, you will._

Sans laughed. "Yeah, I will."

Hosuh hopped up on his chair, gazing around the small restaurant.

"So, kid, whaddya want?" Sans asked.

"Uh, fries, I guess?"

"Sure, double order of fries and a ketchup, Grillbz. Put it on my tab."

Hosuh fiddled with his hair, nervous.

"So, kid? How 'bout we trade questions? I ask, you answer. You ask, I answer. Why do you suddenly remember?" Sans asked, sipping his ketchup.

Hosuh shot him a worried glance, but shook it off. "I found a page in Snowdin, last timeline. It was written in a really old language that I somehow understood. 

"It was a spell, I activated it without knowing how or why I did so, and then I remembered. It must've been a memory spell of some kind. Does anyone else remember?"

Sans gave him a thoughtful glance. "No one that I know of. We seem to be the only ones, even out of the rest of the humans who fell before it."

He sighed and took another sip of his ketchup. "Why do you keep coming if you're just gonna die again?"

Hosuh sighed. "I told you. Dying is the reason I came here in the first place. I didn't want to or expect to survive my fall, but here I am. I might as help you out so my death is actually useful and not just meaningless."

Sans set his ketchup down, watching Hosuh with sadness in his eyes. "...That's what happened with Chara. She didn't fall on accident. She survived on accident. I was the only one she told that. 

"I understand her. She was hated by every single human on the surface. But you? You had at least 5 good friends who cared enough about you to climb Mount. Ebbot to look for you. So why try to end your life?"

Hosuh closed his eyes, tears forming in them. "...My parents. They were always pretty abusive. I only got away from them around a year ago. Then, I started having nightmares about them, anxiety attacks when I thought they were there. 

"I never told my friends. I hid the attacks well, hid the nightmares and the cuts and the tears. And then, I was tired of being like that. So I tried to end it. I put a note on my pillow and I found a way to end my life. So here we are."

Sans nodded slowly. "... What's your next question?"

"...Can we find a way to make others remember?"

Sans hummed and crunched on a fry. "If we can, I don't think we should. They don't deserve to remember all that pain and suffering. I say if we can, we don't. Next question?"

"...Why do they keep resetting?"

"They find it fun." Sans growled. "They find murdering more interesting than being nice. That's all there is to it. Next?"

"One more question. Is there a way to stop it?"

"They can come back to life and reset. If there was a way, I would've fixed this already."

Hosuh sighed, standing. "Okay. My friends will be coming soon. I need to be getting to Waterfall."

Sans nodded, letting him leave without a fuss.

But the conversation left him with a question that Hosuh didn't have an answer to.

 _Was_ there a way to stop that damn human?

\---

Deep inside the mind of a human, a spirit cried. The human, Frisk, kept killing everyone. 

Her friends, her subjects, her family.

She had been able to control Frisk's body in the beginning, in the very first timeline. But then, Frisk took control.

But then, Frisk reset.

And from then on, Frisk controlled them, killing everyone over and over for sport. As she did, she gained more and more LOVE, and it was starting to corrupt them both.

So, in desperation, the spirit sent out a signal as Flowey was killed. A signal that let anyone who remembered sense her presence within Frisk's mind.

Frisk punished her for it, but neither of them knew where it was, and Frisk had no idea what it did.

Maybe Sans could help her.

Maybe Chara could be free again.

\---

Sans and Hosuh met up once again in the next timeline.

"Kid, I wanna show you something important. So if you ever need it in the timelines to come, you can go there."

Hosuh frowned in confusion. "Where?"

He teleported them to a house in Snowdin and led him around the back to a secret door.

All of a sudden, he froze. "Something's inside. Something that wasn't there before. Get behind me."

Hosuh obliged, letting Sans carefully unlock the door and open it suddenly. "...Huh."

"What is it, Sans?"

"C'mon in. It's a... magical signal of some kind. I can't tell what."

Inside was a glowing pillar of... something.

Hosuh blinked. 

"I've seen one of these before, but this one is altered. It seems to be a signal that lets anyone who remembers the timelines sense a particular presence. If we both touch it, we can both sense them."

Sans blinked but obliged, and they both put their hands inside at the same time. It promptly disappeared.

"Who could it be?" Sans wondered.

"Well, they remember the timelines, but they're not physical- they only have a presence. It's not us and it's not the human, since they are physical, so it's... someone else. Maybe a ghost that isn't completely dead?"

"That's probably our best bet, then. But what ghost?"

"I'm suspecting Chara. Maybe her spirit is still slightly awake somewhere. Or maybe Asriel? The ghost of a monster who fought in the War?"

Sans sighed. "I... have no idea. I'll probably find them sometime this timeline. Now. Why don't we go to Grillby's for a bit?"

\---

It had been 20 weeks since Gavin had gone after their friends and fallen, hitting his head and losing his memories. 

Now it had been about 7 weeks since he'd gotten out of the hospital, and he'd been slowly getting his memories back.

It had been hard for both of them. Elias couldn't go after them while Gavin recovered, and it was hard for Gavin to remember his brother and friends when they weren't around.

But even after Gavin remembered everything and was back to his old self, Elias knew it wouldn't help to go looking. Any sign of them was probably gone, and it was a big mountain.

It was riddled with caves and it was far too dangerous to go out again, after Gavin had hit his head and lost his memories.

There was no way for them to find their friends.

They'd have to find the way out themselves.

The only thing Gavin and Elias could do to help them was wait and never lose hope that they'd come back.

\---

As soon as Frisk left the Ruins, Sans sensed someone or something else.

A spirit was in the exact same place as Frisk, frightened out of their mind. 

No... out of _her_ mind.

She was so scared, the desire to help and not hurt the monsters combating with Frisk's brutal intentions.

Sans knew who the spirit was. And he couldn't be more sorry.

\---

Hosuh was immediately encountered by Sans as soon as he left the Ruins.

"Hosuh, we need to talk."

Hosuh blinked. "What's wrong? Did you figure out who-?"

"Yes." Sans cut him off, panic turning his eyes pitch black. "I did. It's Chara."

Hosuh stepped forward, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Where is she? Or, sorry, where was she?"

Sans sighed. "She was in the same exact place as Frisk, constantly. I don't know how or why or what it means, but she was in the same place. Can you guess?"

Hosuh pulled away and paced around, starting to nod slowly.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think I may know. Somehow, Chara's spirit is sharing Frisk's body with Frisk's SOUL. Therefore, they can shift control between each other. Chances are, Chara was the one controlling Frisk's body in the first timeline, which is why it was a pacifist timeline. 

"But Frisk took control, reset, and started to gain EXP and then LOVE. Because of the growing LOVE, Chara was unable to take back control- Frisk was just too strong."

"Then why did Chara take control the first time?" Sans asked.

"She may have been a wondering spirit before Frisk came- dead but not quite at rest. I don't see why she would be at rest, after all. Or maybe she was asleep and Frisk's determined SOUL- which was much like her own SOUL of DETERMINATION- woke her up. Maybe she felt Frisk's intentions and took over her body to save the monsters and finally get them to the surface."

"...holy shit." Sans uttered, staring at Hosuh in shock. "You're... a lot smarter than I thought."

"It was just a little bit of deduction. Jo could've helped you out a lot quicker."

"Anything else?"

"Well." Hosuh tapped his foot in thought. "The only other thing is that Chara is probably trapped in Frisk's body. Chara can't leave Frisk's body because Frisk is just too powerful."

"Is there a way to get Chara out of Frisk's body before she gains any EXP or LOVE? It restarts each time so can she get out before Frisk is too powerful?"

Hosuh saddened. "Sans, there have been countless genocide timelines. If she could get out, she already would have. Remember that she can remember too, and she wouldn't try the same thing over and over again."

Sans sighed. "Yeah, I get that. Okay. One more thing- with this new information, can we make up a plan to stop them once and for all? Save Chara?"

"There is no known way to save Chara, only put her to rest. The same goes for my friends and I. We won't be able to help other than me with the planning, but I may just have an idea to save every monster in the underground and stop Frisk."

\---

It had been 4 months since Gavin had gotten all his memories back.

Elias had finally coaxed him to come out on a walk, the two walking a small trail that cut through the forest. Gavin really just paid attention to the ground, far too quiet.

All of sudden, his eyes caught a small wooden chest that was just beginning to be unearthed by the rain, tucked under a tree.

"Elias. Look." He pointed to it.

"It's... a box? What's it doing all the way out here?"

"We should take it back. I wanna see what's inside."

So they walked back, Gavin fiddling with the small chest.

As he did so, he noticed several things.

1- It was really, really old. So old, he was amazed it wasn't falling apart.

2- It was covered with tear stains, like someone had cried over it.

3- It was in pretty good shape for its age, though that could've been because it was underground.

They got home and sat at the dining table, trying to ignore the 6 empty seats.

Gavin carefully opened it, finding a note covering whatever was inside.

Gavin read it aloud.

_"Hey there! If you're reading this, that means you found our box. Or maybe Stephen just lost the note when we buried the box. In which case, ignore this note. But if you found it with a box, then listen. It contains a load of stuff from our pasts a long time ago._

_"Please be careful with it and put it back where you found it. We'll eventually remember and find it again. But if you ignore this and go through it all anyway, then at least stay away from the velvet box._

_"It has two crystals in it that are very dangerous. Well, to us, anyway. We don't really know what they do but be careful nevertheless. We recommend you put it back because we don't know what will happen to it after we bury it and it may get cursed or something._

_"So yeah. Please put it back and don't die. -Dan, Jay, Ann, Hosuh, Stephen, and Jo."_

Elias blinked. "What the hell? This box is ancient: Why would our friends have it and write a note in it? A way to prank some random passerby? Something has to be going on here."

Gavin shook his head. "It sounds like Dan wrote it, and he wouldn't just randomly prank people. It's even Dan's handwriting, so..."

Elias lifted the note, revealing the various items tucked inside.

There was a dagger that Stephen would absolutely adore, a curved piece of what seemed to be literal gold, an old, leather-bound journal, a dangle earring with a purple gem in the end, a gray and red scale that seemed far too big to belong to any reptile, a few rings with rubies in them, and a velvet box that had a ribbon tied tightly around it.

They both took a moment to gape in shock.

What the hell was it?

\---

They'd finished working on the plan, and Hosuh was supposed to leaving any minute then. But before he did, he stopped Sans.

"Sans." He put his hand on the skeleton's shoulder. "I promise that this will be the last timeline."

Sans nodded. "I'm sorry you guys won't get to see the surface again."

Hosuh smiled. "I wouldn't worry about that. We'll see each other again. _After everything."_

Sans frowned. "But how? You'll be dead!"

Hosuh laughed. "We have our ways."

Sans sighed and decided to leave it alone. "One more thing."

"Yeah?"

"You said there were countless timelines."

"Yeah. What about it?"

Sans sighed. "I counted. I counted and memorized the number each time."

Hosuh stopped. "How many have there been, then?"

Sans met his eyes with sadness. "...4,500,000."

Hosuh sighed as well. "I'm not surprised. See ya, Sans."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is gonna be one heck of a joyride, you will not believe. The next chapter will probably be posted sometime next week, so prepare for that.
> 
> Gavin and Elias made a reappearance! And, just so ya know, I'm really sorry about Elias being all "We can't go after our friends and brothers who might quite possibly be in a lot of danger, we must wait for them to help themselves" but ya know, plot reasons.
> 
> It will all make sense, I promise! I was gonna integrate them more into this story, I really was, but then I rewatched Doctor Who, which had Rory as 'The Boy Who Waited' and then I really wanted for them to eventually come home so that Gavin can punch Stephen in the face and then they have a good reunion so yeah. Sue me. 
> 
> (Also ignore the spoilers. Sorry, River.)


	5. All Truths Finally Known

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans finally tells his family the complete and utter truth

Just under 1000 years later, Sans set their plan into action, well, part of their plan.

Prepare the Underground for when Frisk would come.

But he was adding something a little extra.

He was going to explain. He was going to get his friends together and, just for once, tell them what was going on.

They could help with the plan, and he knew they would need it.

He'd given them 2 months before Frisk came, hoping it would be enough time.

"Hey, Paps?" He called downstairs.

"Why, yes, brother?"

"Could ya do me a favor and call Undyne? Ask her to grab Alphys and meet us in Asgore's Throne Room?"

"Of course, brother, but why? What could possibly be so important?"

"Long story, bro. Go ahead and do that and I'll be down in a minute. We've got a detour first, though."

So, a few minutes later, Sans teleported them both to the door.

Sans wasted no time knocking. "Old lady? Ya there? I need to speak to you! It's pretty urgent!"

"I am here, friend. What is the matter?"

"I know you don't wanna, but you need to come out. We are dealing with the fate of every monster in the underground."

The voice was hesitant. "Why ask me? I am just an old lady behind a door."

"No, you're not." Sans said through the door. "I'm sorry I didn't say it sooner, but I'm Sans. Papyrus is here, too. Tori, this involves you because they are still your people and in 2 months, something is coming that will destroy everything. Please. Come out."

Sans heard her gasp, then, after a few more moments of hesitance, the door creaked open.

"...You've both grown so much." She whispered.

Sans tried for a smile. "I know." He whispered something in her ear, and she saddened but nodded, turning to Papyrus.

"Hello. My name is Toriel. You must be Papyrus."

Papyrus blinked, but responded with his normal attitude. "I am indeed Papyrus! The Great Papyrus! Soon-to-be member of the Royal Guard!"

Toriel laughed before turning to Sans. "Where are we going?"

Sans sighed. "Unfortunately, where you hate most. The throne room. Asgore needs to understand just as you do. The Captain of The Royal Guard and the Royal Scientist should be there already."

Toriel sighed. "Fine. You said it was urgent, and I believe you. Are we... teleporting?"

Sans nodded. "Quickest way. Prepare yourselves, guys."

A moment later, they were in the throne room, making everyone else jump.

"Sans! What the hell, man?" Undyne asked, summoning a spear on instinct.

"Tori! What are you doing here?" Asgore asked, frozen with shock.

"W-wait, that's t-the Q-Queen? Queen T-Toriel?" Alphys wondered, her stuttering worse from the surprise.

"Asgore," Toriel interrupted, throwing a glare at her ex husband, "Don't 'Tori' me. Sans called us all here for an urgent reason. Sans, please explain."

Sans nodded. "There is something urgent I have to discuss, and I will explain. I'll explain everything because it's time you all knew and understood. There is a lot going on and you should finally know."

"Well, then, the living room is probably a better environment for explaining." Asgore mused. "It's far nicer than this old place."

Sans nodded. "Good. But... we need to bring the SOULS."

Everyone except Papyrus stiffened. "W-Why?" Alphys asked, trembling a little in confusion.

Sans smiled softly. "Didn't you know? They're still conscious. They can hear things around them. I figured they'd like to know why everything happened the way that it did."

Toriel gave him a look before sighing. "I suppose."

Sans snapped his fingers and six jars teleported behind him, each soul inside. "Let's go, then."

\---

Soon, they were sitting around the fire, the six souls sitting on the table.

"Okay, bone bag," Undyne began, "You said you were gonna explain everything, so I expect everything. What's going on?"

"Well, I'll tell ya a bit a backstory, then I'll explain the current situation." Sans said.

He sighed, then began.

"It starts at the beginning of my life. I was born on the surface. My mom's name was Ariel, but I never knew my dad. Mom was a royal guards women."

Undyne froze. "Wait, wait, wait. Your mom was Ariel, the greatest member of the Royal Guard to ever exist?" Her eyes shined in excitement and disbelief.

Sans laughed. "Yeah, that was her. Anyway, when I was 4, Mom one day brought home a newborn Papyrus. When Paps was 4 and I was 8, the war happened. Before Mom left us in the caverns, she gave Papyrus her scarf. 

"She left to fight and never came back. I became a beggar, a thief, just so I could even get enough food for us to eat. We lived in an abandoned shack at the edge of the capital. 

"One day, Asriel and Chara themselves decided to check out the shack, thinking it was still abandoned. We surprised them a bit, but once they heard our story, they took us to the castle."

Toriel smiled sadly. "I remember that day. You both were so small and kind. Once we heard that Ariel had been their mother, we felt glad that we were able to help them."

Sans acknowledged her with a nod and continued.

"Asgore and Toriel took us in for a couple nights got us a, rented house in Snowdin and offered me the job of Sentry. While I was working, though, I couldn't take care of Paps. 

"Asriel and Chara offered to watch him for me, I accepted, we became close friends. But then one day... well, everyone knows what happened."

Everyone except Papyrus nodded.

"Sans, what did happen? I don't remember any of this."

"I'll tell ya later, Paps. As for why you don't remember... it's one of my biggest regrets but I'll tell ya."

Sans took a deep before going on.

"Paps was no longer the energetic little brother. He was always dragging his feet, a look of sadness in his eyes every time he even saw green, yellow, or white."

"Yikes." Undyne murmured.

"I took him to Gerson in Waterfall and he erased his memories. I thought I was helping him and saving him from all the grief, but I get that I was wrong now."

Papyrus thought for a moment, then sighed. "I forgive you, brother. I just wish you had told me."

Sans smiled sadly. "I will. Very soon, I will. I promise, bro."

"Later, I met the royal scientist, W.D. Gaster, who was a skeleton like me an' Paps. I'd thought me and Paps were the last skeletons but eventually, I realized that he was my dad. 

"I became his assistant. There was Alphys, too. We came up with an idea to get past the barrier: creating a portal. It didn't lead to the other side of the barrier, though...." His voice trailed off.

"I've never heard of Gaster. Are you sure?" Asgore asked.

Sans nodded. "I know you haven't. And here's why. It lead to the outside of existence. We didn't do our calculations right. I was sucked into it, but Gaster jumped in and pushed me out. Gaster was erased from existence, but things he made are still around. 

"The echo flowers, the Core, the old lab under Alphys's lab. But I'm getting off track. I was the only one who remembered Gaster. I continued on with my life. I learned how to fight. I became the royal judge. This too was erased from everyone's memories too. Then, the first human came."

He sighed, eyes going dark. "...Toriel, I know you blame Asgore for their deaths-" He waved his hand vaguely towards the souls- "But the truth is: he didn't kill a single human. Two different monsters, one of which was the Captain of the Royal Guard at the time, Clamshell. She killed Integrity and Perseverance."

Toriel frowned. "Then, who killed the other four?"

Sans sighed again. "After everything happened, Asgore was enraged, but so was I. Asgore regretted it rather quickly and his anger mellowed out pretty fast. But mine didn't. I thought Chara was the only good human that ever existed."

Toriel realized, freezing. "You didn't." She whispered.

"I captured Kindness in Hotland. I brought him to be executed, but he didn't resist. Only asked for our story and why we were going after humans. Puzzled, Asgore and I explained. And he let us take it, saying that he'd climbed Mount. Ebbot to die anyway. He said his SOUL might as well help us be free."

Automatically, 4 of the SOULS began rattling furiously in their jars, except for Kindness, which sunk down in his jar and Justice, which just sunk a little, since she had already known.

"The deaths of Patience, Bravery, and Justice were entirely my fault. I take full responsibility, and I don't expect any of you to ever trust or forgive me for this, but listen."

Toriel faced him with fury in her gaze, snarling. "What?"

"Another human fell, having a SOUL of DETERMINATION. They were kind to everyone and I thought they were just like Chara. They even saved the underground and found a way to destroy the Barrier. I thought they were like Chara. Emphasis on I _thought."_

"But no one like that has fallen and we definitely aren't free." Undyne said in confusion.

Sans nodded. "This is the hardest part to explain. When we reached the surface with Frisk, she made a button appear, labeled 'Reset'. She pressed it and I woke up on the day Kindness came. At first, I brushed it off as a long dream. 

"But then my life happened again. But this time something different happened. Frisk, instead of sparing everyone, killed every monster in and out of her path. Every single one. Even..." Sans actually trembled a little.

"E-Even Paps..." He finished, tears in his pitch black eyes.

Everyone froze. 

Undyne found her voice first. "S-Surely I stopped them! There's no way-"

Sans cut her off. "You are an amazing fighter and if she played by the rules, you could've stopped her easily. But every time she died, she could just come back to life, and you would never remember killing her. She'd memorize your attack patterns and find a spot to kill you."

Undyne was quiet. "Then she really would be impossible to defeat, even for the best fighter in the Underground. Did I at least give her a hard time?"

Sans smiled slightly, sadness in his eyes. "A bit. She actually slashed you once and killed you, but you were so determined to save the monsters and avenge the lost ones that you came back stronger too. But... it still wasn't enough."

Undyne sighed, then nodded. "What happened after all that, then?"

"I'm the Royal Judge. Therefore, I encountered her in the Judgement Hall. I asked them to stop, they refused, so I attacked. I managed to defeat them, like Undyne did. But every time I killed them, they just came back stronger. 

"And each time, I got more tired. Eventually, I was so tired that I fell asleep during battle. They killed me, and I woke up again, everything reset. The cycle repeated. The worst thing is, I'm the only one who remembers the resets. Well... I was."

Asgore blinked. "What do you mean by that?"

Sans actually looked a little happy. "A few timelines ago, during Kindness' execution, he suddenly asked me questions about the resets, saying that there was a look in my eye that hinted at me knowing about it."

"He remembered all of a sudden? H-How?" Alphys asked, confusion and small excitement in her eyes.

"The next timeline, he explained that he found a page in Snowdin and activated the spell on it completely on accident. It was a memory spell, and he remembered. I explained all the timeline stuff, and he told some stuff himself. We came to the conclusion that there's no way to stop her."

Toriel snarled. "Then why bother telling us if they'll just reset and we'll all forget again?"

Sans sighed. "In another timeline, we found a signal that someone left. It allowed anyone who remembered the resets to sense their presence. Kindness, or, as I should say, Hosuh had a theory about who put it there and why."

"What w-was it?" Alphys asked. Sans smiled softly. "It'll be easier just to show you."

His eye glowed, and a scene of a clean lab appeared, Sans and a young boy inside.

_Hosuh put his hand near it and closed his eyes. "It's a signal that lets anyone who remembers the timelines sense a particular presence. I cant tell whose, though. If we both touch it, we can both sense them."_

_Sans blinked but obliged, and they both put their hands inside at the same time. It promptly disappeared._

_"Who could it be?" Sans wondered._

_"Well, they remember the timelines, but they're not physical- they only have a presence. It's not us and it's not the human, since they are physical, so it's... someone else. Maybe a ghost that isn't completely dead?"_

_"That's probably our best bet, then. But what ghost?"_

_"I'm suspecting Chara. Maybe her spirit is still slightly awake somewhere. Or maybe Asriel? The ghost of a monster who fought in the War?"_

_Sans sighed. "I... have no idea. I'll probably find them sometime this timeline. Now. Why don't we go to Grillby's for a bit?"_

The scene dissipated, leaving the rooms occupants shocked, to say the least.

Toriel, somehow, was the calmest, despite being completely filled with rage.

"Who was it?" She whispered.

Another scene appeared.

_"Hosuh, we need to talk."_

_Hosuh blinked. "What's wrong? Do you figure out who-?"_

_"Yes." Sans cut him off, panic turning his eyes pitch black. "I did. It's Chara."_

_Hosuh stepped forward, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Where is she? Or, sorry, where was she?"_

_Sans obliged. "She was in the same exact place as Frisk, constantly. I don't know how or why or what it means, but she was in the same place. Can you guess?"_

_Hosuh pulled away and paced around, starting to nod slowly._

_"Yeah. Yeah, I think I may know. Somehow, Chara's spirit is sharing Frisk's body with Frisk's SOUL. Therefore, they can shift control between each other. Chances are, Chara was the one controlling Frisk's body in the first timeline, which is why it was a pacifist timeline._

_"But Frisk took control, reset, and started to gain EXP and then LOVE. Because of the growing LOVE, Chara was unable to take back control- Frisk was just too strong."_

_"Then why did Chara take control the first time?" Sans asked._

_"She may have been a wondering spirit before Frisk came- dead but not quite at rest. I don't see why she would be at rest, after all._

_"Or maybe she was asleep and Frisk's determined SOUL- which was much like her own SOUL of DETERMINATION- woke her up. Maybe she felt Frisk's intentions and took over her body to save the monsters and finally get them to the surface."_

_"...holy shit." Sans uttered, staring at Hosuh in shock. "You're... a lot smarter than I thought."_

_"It was just a little bit of deduction. Jo could've helped you out a lot quicker."_

Toriel saddened. "Jo. Perseverance."

The purple SOUL rattled slightly in his jar.

_Sans flinched, but tried to pretend he hadn't moved._

_"Anything else?"_

_"Well." Hosuh tapped his foot in thought. "The only other thing is that Chara is probably trapped in Frisk's body. Chara can't leave Frisk's body because Frisk is just too powerful."_

_"Is there a way to get Chara out of Frisk's body before she gains any EXP or LOVE? It restarts each time so can she get out before Frisk is too powerful?"_

_Hosuh saddened. "Sans, there has been so many genocide timelines. If she could get out, she already would have. Remember that she can remember too, and she wouldn't try the same thing over and over again."_

_Sans sighed. "Yeah, I get that. Okay. One more thing- with this new information, can we make up a plan to stop them once and for all? Save Chara?"_

_"There is no known way to save Chara, only put her to rest. The same goes for my friends and I. We won't be able to help other than me with the planning, but I may just have an idea to save every monster in the underground and stop Frisk."_

It dissolved in the air.

"Okay, then. You guys had a plan to stop Frisk. What is it?" Asgore wondered, tears sparkling in his eyes.

Sans stood, moving to lean against the side of the fireplace. 

"Here it is: We have 2 months before Frisk shows up again. In that time, we need to evacuate every single monster to somewhere safe and post Royal Guards and the strongest monsters in those places in case Frisk finds them. 

"Without all their LOVE, they'll be weak. We have to fight Frisk and keep her occupied while Chara fights her from the inside. We can't kill her because if we do she'll just come back and none of you will remember. 

"Knocking her out would be the best option, since that would probably help Chara out the most. Chara is able to defeat her and may even be able to go back to possessing/controlling Frisk's body. 

"That's basically what we came up with. There's a lot of assumptions and hopes, but this is our best shot. And if we fail... they'll reset, I'll tell you again, and we'll come up with another plan."

"Who will fight Frisk?" Toriel questioned quietly.

"Asgore?" Sans prompted.

"Undyne, Sans, and I shall fight Frisk. Undyne, dispatch the Royal Guard to evacuate our people to safe locations. Alphys, after that is complete, seal off as many puzzles as you can. We must slow their progress as much as possible."

Both nodded. "Sir, where should they be evacuated to?" Undyne asked.

Sans thought it over. "Somewhere in Hotland is best. Remember, we'll have to close off the puzzles on some monsters. In Hotland, there would be more puzzles between Frisk and our people. But not all of them should be in one place, in case one of the groups is found."

Alphys perked up. "M-Mettaton told me that there's a secret hatch under a rug in the MTT Resort. W-We can hide a group there. And the T-True Lab won't be in Frisk's reach. It can hold 65 monsters and we have 2 months. I can clean it up and make it the p-perfect hiding spot."

Sans nodded. "That is a pretty good idea, but we have a problem. They actually found it in their Pacifist Run. So you'd need to block it up in some way."

Toriel thought about it. "That may work, but we mustn't forget the Monsters in the ruins. I am unsure you could split such a big group in half to fit such places."

Undyne sighed. "She's right. We need at least another area."

Asgore scratched his chin and paced. "There is a room under renovations in the hallway. We could hide some monsters there, or perhaps dig some rooms with the doors being under the beds in the rooms."

"But would even that be enough? There's about 260 of us. Could we all fit in those three spaces? The hallway goes under the rooms. Go down too far and Frisk finds them. And we have to make sure all the weight doesn't destroy the floor." Sans said.

"Under the castle is simply too risky and a trapdoor in the hallway would be easily noticeable." Toriel murmured.

"And, with Hotland, we have to worry about all the lava." Alphys added.

Sans froze, then grinned. "Maybe it doesn't have to be in Hotland. Not entirely. You guys know that dark place in Waterfall, the one near Temmie Village?"

"What about it?" Papyrus wondered.

"We could hide a trapdoor in the dark. Cover it with dirt. Dig out a bunker, where they could be safe."

"How many monsters would it hold?" Asgore wondered.

Undyne spoke up, having patrolled the area often. "Utilizing all our room, around 20."

Alphys jumped up. "I-I'll call Mettaton and ask how many monsters will fit in his bunker."

She stepped out of the room, slipping her phone out of her pocket.

"The room under renovations could hold about 10 monsters, I believe." Toriel said.

Sans thought of something. "The True Lab has another room. Where the portal was. That room could fit a load of monsters, since it had the portal. If the True Lab is broken into, Frisk won't know where the entrance is."

"There can't be too many monsters in one place. Where is the entrance?" Asgore asked as Alphys came back in.

"The entrance to the portal room is behind the machine that powers Alphys' lab. There's a magically sealed passage way."

"How many monsters could go there?" Undyne asked.

"95. They won't be found. And, if we don't block the elevator to the True Lab, it won't signify that there are monsters inside in the first place, so they may not go down at all."

Asgore nodded. "Then that is where they will go. Alphys, how much room is there in the MTT Resort?"

"Enough for 80 monsters."

"Then those are four places sorted. MTT Resort, the True Lab, the room under renovations, and the bunker in Waterfall."

"But that's not enough!" Papyrus said. "That's only enough room for 205 monsters. We need enough for 260!"

"He's right." Toriel agreed. "We need more room."

"What a-about another bunker magically sealed in the hallway below us? I know it's risky, since Frisk will pass right over it, but it will give us enough room for 25 more monsters." Alphys suggested.

Undyne nodded. "That could work if we do it right. But we still need room for 30 monsters."

Asgore smiled. "I trust you both can make it work. Where can 30 more monsters go?"

Papyrus jumped up. "What about a secret door hidden in Muffet's Cave? It's really dark in there, and it could be magically sealed and covered with webs so it would be an amazing hiding spot!"

Sans grinned, his blue eye reappearing, but star-shaped. "Paps, that's an amazing idea! It could definitely work!"

Alphys smiled. "Y-Yes, that could work! The maximum space could hold 24 monsters!"

"Leaving only us 6 to worry about." Undyne finished.

"Well, Undyne, Fluffy Buns, and I are gonna be fighting them, so we don't need to hide. We only need to worry about a hiding spot for Paps, Alphys, and Toriel." Sans said.

"But where? Every other hiding spot would be full." Alphys said.

"I hate to suggest it, but... what about the coffin room?" Undyne murmured. 

"Anywhere but there." Toriel said, sadness seeping into her voice.

Sans sighed. "I can't think of another place. I'm sorry, but there's nowhere else that could be safe. We'll magically seal it, that way they can't get in."

Toriel sighed. "I-... okay. I suppose it's for the best."

"We should probably keep the SOULS with us. Just to make sure that they're safe." Alphys said, resting her talons on the Queen's shoulder.

"Alright, then. We have 2 months to dig out three bunkers. I hope it's enough time." Sans said, anxiety in his voice.

"I'm sure it will be fine, brother!" Papyrus assured him. "We can do it in a month, I'm sure of it!"

Asgore smiled. "Alright, then. There will be at least three Royal Guards in each bunker, in case they are found. Alphys and Undyne, you both are in charge of overseeing the creation of these bunkers. I shall send out an announcement to the Underground and explain that a human will come. Sans, at what exact time do they come out the Ruins?"

"Well, they'll be sped up by not killing any monsters, but the puzzles without Toriel's help will slow them down. So I'd say 2 hours earlier than in the previous timelines, just to give us more leeway. In other words, at exactly 5 PM, exactly 2 months from now."

Asgore nodded. "Thank you. I will give the announcement in 15 minutes. I must prepare and they must gather."

But then, a new voice was heard in the room, coming from a flower in a pot on the bookshelf.

"I'll help you guys."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge shout out to my friend, Metal, who helped me figure out where the heck I was gonna hide all the monsters, especially for the secret room behind the machine that powers Alphys' lab. Thanks, dude!


	6. Remembering and Recognition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flowey joins the group to help, and Papyrus discovers a new power

_Asgore nodded. "Thank you. I will give the announcement in 15 minutes. I must prepare and they must gather."_

_But then, a new voice was heard in the room, coming from a flower in a pot on the bookshelf._

_"I'll help you guys."_

\---

Everyone apart from Papyrus froze at the new voice.

"Flowey!" Papyrus greeted happily, earning a shocked look from his brother.

"Paps, what the-" Sans began, only for Alphys to cut him off.

"You! H-How can you be h-here? Where did you e-even go?" Alphys asked, frozen in disbelief.

"That doesn't matter. Look, Sans, I know that you know what I did, but I only did it once!" Flowey said, voice slightly louder by the end of his sentence.

"Twice. You did it twice."

"And she's done it 4 and a half million times! Ugh, look. I know you don't trust me but now is not the time for that. I can help you fight her."

Sans snarled. "And why do you care about us all of a sudden, huh? Why now? Because you'll be killed too?"

"No! I'm not doing it for you, I'm doing it for Chara!"

Sans froze. "...What? Why would you care about Chara?"

"The same reason you care for Paps! We are- were siblings!" Flowey shouted, then froze, realizing what he'd said.

Sans snarled again. "Funny. I don't remember you being Asriel."

Flowey looked away. "... I woke up."

"What?" Asgore asked quietly.

"I woke up after turning to dust. When I did, I was so confused. We failed, I felt myself turn to dust. So why was I awake? Answer? Because of her." Flowey pointed at Alphys.

He continued. "This flower was the biggest and covered in the most dust. The dust clung to it, and then she injected me with liquid determination, just like the Amalgamates. I didn't have a SOUL- I couldn't feel anything. All that stuff I did... I was just trying to feel. Even if it was guilt."

"You seemed pretty enraged to me." Sans growled. "Let's pretend I believe you about this whole Asriel crap. Why come now, because you'd definitely need compassion for that."

Flowey sighed and waved to the SOULS. "I remember feeling their emotions when they were inside me, back in the Pacifist timeline. They had so many emotions, one of which was compassion. I can't feel compassion, but I can remember what it was like to have compassion."

Sans sighed. "Then... prove to us that you're actually Asriel. Tell us something only Asriel would know."

Flowey nodded. "Before I do that, just know that I only woke up a few years ago. Alphys can prove that."

"H-He was indeed." Alphys whispered.

Sans nodded to her. "Go ahead, then."

"... Chara was left-handed. Every visitor thought she was right-handed, but she was originally left-handed. She had nerve-damage in her left hand thanks to a human carpenter, which happened when she was still on the surface."

Sans' eyes went pitch black. "One more thing and I'll believe you." He whispered.

Flowey smiled. "Paps loved the taste of butterscotch pie. He loved it so much that he tried to convince you everyday that you weren't working to take him to the Castle to eat Mom's pie."

Sans froze, tears shining in his eyes. "Gods, you really are him."

Toriel reached out and gently brushed one of his petals. "My poor son." She whispered, tears slipping down her cheeks.

"Asriel..." Asgore breathed. "I am so, so sorry."

Flowey sighed. "I know. But you should also know that I can't love you back. Not anymore. Not really."

Toriel sighed. "I know. But we will love you nonetheless."

Asgore smiled. "Yes, we will. I am afraid I must go. I must make that announcement."

Flowey tried to smile back. "I know, Dad. Go ahead."

Sans went into the kitchen and came back with a small flower pot.

"I think I should go take Paps to get his memories back. Azzy, ya wanna come with us?" He asked.

Flowey nodded and placed himself in the pot, shortening his roots so he fit comfortably. "Yeah, I wanna go."

Toriel smiled sadly. "Of course. You three be careful now."

Sans smiled back. "Sure. Paps, could ya take Azzy? I'll be outside in a moment."

"Of course, brother! The Great Papyrus will protect the Prince with his life!"

Sans laughed. "I know ya will, buddy."

After that, only Sans and Toriel were left in the room, the SOULS floating in their jars.

"I'm sorry, Tori. I don't expect you to forgive me for this." He said to her, breathing out a quiet sigh.

Toriel sighed as well. "I am disappointed, Sans, but I am not the one you should apologize to. You should say that to them." She gestured to the SOULS. "In fact, I should apologize as well. I let them go off into danger and didn't try to stop them."

Sans gave her a sad look before turning to the SOULS. 

"I'm sorry, guys, I really am. I thought I was doin' the right thing, helpin' my people, but... but I was wrong. I thought Chara was the only good human in the world. Then, I saw Hosuh willingly give up his SOUL and that belief was shaken a bit. 

"I thought Dan was threatening my brother when really he helped Paps. I didn't really know that Jay was kind until Ann came and asked about her friends and described how nice they were, even Jay and Stephen. 

"When Jay attacked, my instincts reacted before my mind. Same thing with Ann, but she only attacked after I told her what happened to the rest of you, and honestly? I deserved to be attacked. 

"I don't really know if you guys will forgive me but know that I'm sorry. Hosuh told me that, after everything, I'd see you guys again. I don't really know what he meant, but I guess I'll find out. I really am sorry, guys."

Toriel stepped up to his side. "I am sorry as well, my children. I should not have let you run into danger. It is my fault as well that you ended up this way. I hope you can forgive us both, one day."

The SOULS were quiet for a few moments before Patience, Dan, bobbed up and down a little, like a nod. The other SOULS followed his movement.

"You... forgive us? You shouldn't." Toriel said sadly.

But the SOULS simply repeated the motion.

"I- really?" Sans whispered. "T-Thank you. Again, I'm sorry, kids."

He sighed, and pulled away.

"I gotta go get Paps his memories back." He said quietly.

Toriel smiled softly. "I have a feeling he'll be a little overwhelmed. Take it slow, will you?"

Sans smiled back. "Of course."

He slipped out the door, and, after a moment, the three siblings were gone.

\---

It had been two months. Every monster was in their hiding place, Sans and the others waited in the Barrier room, and Frisk had just fallen into the Underground.

Against all the barricades and puzzles, Frisk took 5 hours to reach the Castle. She'd slowed down in Waterfall for a few minutes for an unknown reason, but Sans could guess.

She'd found the trapdoor.

She finally entered the room.

"Finally!" She giggled. "Some bugs to smash! Shame I couldn't find any others- they're usually so plentiful!"

Undyne growled. "You're sick."

She grinned. "Of course I am! And unbeatable! I may only have 3 LOVE but I can still destroy you all so easily! Just try and strike me down!"

"Funny. I was just about to say that about us." Sans said, firing off a simple bone attack.

Frisk easily dodged running towards him and trying to slash him.

*MISS

Suddenly, he was on the other side of the room, flanked by Undyne and Asgore with Flowey up behind him.

"Nice try, but you're a little rusty. Why don't we try somethin' different?"

Spears erupted from the ground while bones flew at her from each direction.

She jumped up and rolled out of the way, getting to her feet and trying to slash them all.

Sans grabbed them and teleported again.

*MISS

*MISS

*MISS

Sans yawned. "Think you can try better to hit us?"

Asgore blocked an attack, and Undyne sent more spears after Frisk.

She easily dodged, laughing.

"You fools! You should've researched me more!"

"And why is that?" Sans asked with boredom.

She giggled insanely. "I can save and store my LOVE from previous timelines!"

All of a sudden...

**FRISK**

**ATK: 1000  
DEF: 1000  
LV: 45,000,003  
EXP: 93  
** **  
The _real_ beast from Hell** **  
**

Sans froze. "B-But how? That's-"

"-Impossible? Not by a long shot." She giggled. "Good luck!"

Undyne gulped. "Is now a good time to cuss?"

Frisk started running towards them.

"Yep." Flowey practically squeaked.

"SON OF A-"

\---

In the coffin room, Toriel, Papyrus, and Alphys sat in wait. The SOULS floated in their jars, giving Papyrus an idea.

"Toriel?" He asked. "Could we let the SOULS out of the jars? They seem really worried, and I think they'd like to be free."

The Queen smiled. "Of course."

They twisted off the lids of the jars, letting the SOULS float out.

They hovered together, like they were trying to communicate with each other but couldn't.

Papyrus saddened, resting his chin on his knees. The green soul floated closer, almost like it was checking if something was wrong.

"Papyrus, dear? What's wrong?" Toriel asked him, resting a paw on his shoulder.

Papyrus sighed. "I just... I wish the humans could just get their SOULS back and be alive again. I wish they were back in their bodies."

Toriel sighed as well. "I under-"

She was cut off by a strange orange light seeping from Papyrus' palm, which he was also watching in shock. It engulfed the SOULS and suddenly rushed them across the room to the opened coffins.

The next thing they knew, the humans were all sitting up in sudden movements, breathing deeply and quickly in shock.

Dan spoke first, hand on his chest. "That... was the most painful... breath I... ever took." He said, panting.

Jay followed his lead, rather winded. "No shit. How... how did this happen?"

Hosuh grinned, breathless. "Papyrus did it. I... I don't know how... but he did it."

Stephen took a few deep breaths, trying to slow his breathing. "Man, spears are not... not fun. Neither is waiting a thousand years. I... I wanna goddamn refund."

"My children!" Toriel cried, quickly getting to her feet. "You're all alive!"

Hosuh stumbled out of his coffin and hugged her both as a greeting and for balance.

Dan seemed to actually realize where they were. "Oh my gods! We're... we're all here! We're alive!"

Jo finally got his breath back, his sapphire blue eyes regaining their life. "We are! But... how? We died. We all died."

"I guess Sans isn't the only one in his family with powerful magic." Stephen said, stumbling to his feet. "I mean, reuniting SOULS with their bodies can't be an easy feat. We were pretty dead."

"Yes, I am... rather tired... all of a sudden..." Papyrus said, passing out.

"Papyrus!" Toriel and Alphys shouted.

Hosuh crouched beside him, checked something, then stood up. "He's not hurt. He just passed out from exhaustion. Like Stephen said, bringing us back to life definitely wasn't easy."

"Wait. Why hasn't Ann woken yet?" Jay asked, gesturing to Ann, who was the only one who hadn't rose.

"Ann?" Dan called.

She shifted and rolled over. "5 more minutes..." She mumbled.

Jo laughed. "Yeah, she's fine."

A minute later, everyone except Papyrus was up and awake.

"So, just so everyone is up to speed." Dan began. "In the Barrier room, Sans, Asgore, Flowey, and Undyne are fighting Frisk. Chara will defeat Frisk from the inside while they defeat her from the outside and Frisk is destroyed and killed. That was the plan."

"But we aren't part of the plan." Hosuh continued. "And I just sensed her get a lot more powerful. She just gained over 50 million LOVE out of nowhere."

"B-But that's i-impossible!" Alphys said in shock.

Hosuh nodded to her. "I know, but she just did it. Either way, they won't be able to face her alone."

"Then what do we do?" Ann asked quietly.

Hosuh softened. "You guys are incredibly powerful, far more than you remember. Not only that, but we're also human. We have the best chance of beating her."

"'Osa, the only thing we did was laze around. She has over 50 million LOVE! Why would we have a chance? Because we're part of the same species?" Stephen asked.

"Sorry, Hos," Jay said, "But Stephen's right. What can we do?"

Hosuh sighed and pulled out the page that had the memory spell. A new spell was scribbled on the back, being generally the same as the other but edited a bit.

"The timelines weren't the only thing I remembered." He said slowly.

"What else did you remember, then?" Jo wondered. 

Hosuh smiled. "You'll see. This is slightly altered so you only remember the Pacifist timeline and a genocide timeline. That way you don't remember so much of the waiting."

Dan sighed. "Go ahead and cast it on us, then."

Hosuh nodded and drew the spell in the air, preparing to activate.

"Ready?"

"Yep."

"Yeah."

"Of course!"

"Whenever you are."

"Go ahead."

Hosuh took a deep breath. "Okay, then."

He activated it, and memories rushed through their minds.

Everyone had various reactions.

Stephen stumbled and nearly fell over, Hosuh catching him, Jay and Jo took a bit of a trembling breath, and Ann and Dan blinked.

"Okay," Stephen said, brushing a tear from his eye, "So us dying and suffering and fighting things is pretty common, then."

Jay nodded, worry glittering in his eyes. "Unfortunately. How ya feeling? After remembering... _them_ again."

Stephen took a shuttering breath. "I'll... I'll be f-fine. What do we do now?"

Hosuh gave him a worried glance before responding. "We join the fight. We can help."

Alphys stumbled to her feet. "But that's a terrible idea! You guys just came back to life! There is no way you are strong enough to fight them!"

"Well, sorry, but it's either we go out there or your friends quite possibly die, so there's only a few options." Ann pointed out.

"Alphys, it'll be okay. We can do it." Hosuh said with a soft smile.

"I'd love to agree," Jo cut in, "But we don't exactly have our weapons. I know Stephen can conjure his just fine, but the rest of us need weapons, and you and Stephen need your staffs."

Hosuh smiled. "That's why we have the pocket." He pushed his hand into empty air, it disappeared, and then it came back with Dan and Ann's swords. He tossed them to them, and repeated the process for their weapons and staffs.

**_[A/N: It's basically storing weapons and stuff in the Duat (is that right??? Could've sworn it had an r somewhere in there...) from the Kane Chronicles (which I haven't read in forever). Anyway, yeah that's basically it but it's a pocket dimension or something here]_ **

Dan turned to Toriel. "We can't reseal the wall, I'm afraid-"

"We don't need to. We don't need to break down the wall, I mean. It's just a door." Jay interrupted with a grin.

"It... is?" Stephen asked.

Jo looked at it and got a grin himself. "Yep! Just a sliding door! May take a moment to push it open, but we can definitely reseal it to keep you guys safe!"

Ann shoved it open, allowing the sounds of the raging battle and various outraged and/or terrified screams to slip into the room.

"Let's go, then." Jay said quietly.

"Please, be safe, my children." Toriel said, nervousness in her eyes. "I would not know what to do with myself if you did not return alive."

Dan softened. "We'll be okay."

Ann grinned, giving Toriel a hug. "We'll take them down easily! Don't you worry, goat mom!"

Jay nodded. "We promise to be safe."

Jo gave her a gentle glance. "We'll come back."

Stephen chuckled. "Yeah, we'll be perfectly fine. We're not as stupid as we look."

"Well, nearly." Dan said, earning a joking punch in the shoulder from Jo.

Hosuh squeezed her paw for a moment. "We'll come back safe and sound."

Toriel smiled back and hugged them all. "I hope you will. Good luck. Be careful."

They nodded and filed out, Stephen stopping at the entrance.

"Toriel... I get it now, what losing a child is like. I suppose I already knew, just... just didn't remember knowing. We'll make sure the Prince is safe." He said quietly.

She met his eyes sadly. "What was their name? Your child?"

Stephen tried for a smile, but his eyes betrayed his emotions. "Theodosia. I called her Ted."

"I would have loved to meet her. Do be careful, will you?"

Stephen nodded. "Of course." Then, he slipped out of the room and sealed back the doorway.

"Let's go." Hosuh said, turning to sprint into the Throne Room and then the room between the Throne Room and the Barrier room, the others close behind.

They paused before going into the Barrier room, the sounds of battle having gone quiet.

"Who's going in first?" Ann asked.

"Me." Stephen said, and with no further warning, he turned and waltzed through the doorway.

In the Barrier room, Asgore, Undyne, and Flowey were down, and Frisk was advancing on a tired Sans. Stephen took a deep breath before shouting to the room.

"Hey!"

The others came in and flanked him as Frisk slowly turned in shock.

"Remember us, asshole?" Jay asked, lighting his hands ablaze.

Everyone raised their weapons or staffs, Ann, Jay, Stephen having cocky smirks.

"How?" Frisk asked quietly.

"Well, we asked the same question when we heard about your ability to regain all your LOVE from previous resets." Dan said, spinning his blade in his grip.

"But, then we decided to reveal an ability of our own." Ann continued with a smile.

"Well, we didn't, but it worked in our favor." Hosuh admitted with a small grin of his own.

Suddenly, Frisk smiled, giggled, and then laughed.

"Oh, this is so cute. What makes you think you can stop me?"

"Uh... we once made an okay cake?" Ann said, though it sounded more like a question.

Stephen snorted. "After tying up the baker, pissing off entire the village, and having at least 4 previous failed attempts? Gee, Ann, you almost sound positive."

"Guys!" Dan muttered, then faced Frisk. "We're human. There's six of us, one of you, a few monsters, three of which are boss monsters, and one more thing. The thing that's gonna be your downfall."

Frisk smirked. "What's that, then?"

Hosuh answered her. "You have a captive. A captive who is the reason you can come back to life, though she can't choose if you do. And that captive is Asgore's adopted child, Sans' best friend, Flowey's sister, and the Princess of Monsters, meaning that it is Undyne's duty to protect her."

"And if she's anything like her grandmother, I think she'll perform that duty. Don't you?" Jo added.

"Monsters can be determined, unrelenting just like you, it just has a high chance of causing them harm." Ann mentioned.

"But there is no force like a parent's rage. Trust me, I know that rage all so well. I've held that rage for a long time, actually." Stephen said, flashes of blood and snow slipping into the surface of his mind.

It was hardly noticeable, but when he said that, everyone shifted ever-so-slightly closer to Stephen, providing comfort in the heat of the situation.

Or maybe that was just because Jay's hands were still on fire.

Not sure.

Anyway, Frisk blinked at the statement, then she laughed. "Then your child, whoever the _hell_ they were, probably deserved to die. I even bet you could've saved them." She said in a sickly-sweet, droning voice.

Stephen's eyes were immediately filled with rage, but he just barely stayed where he was, clenching his jaw.

Everyone else stiffened at the comment, nearly narrowing their eyes in unison. They either clenched their fists or tightened their grip on their weapon.

Jay put out one of his hands and put it on Stephen's shoulder. "No killing her, remember? Trust me, I wanna kill her too, but not now."

Stephen muttered something back, ultimately staying where he was.

Hosuh addressed Frisk, his previously only cold gaze now seeming to be in an ice storm, swirling with hatred and slight fear.

"Okay. Ya know what? Let's go ahead and start fighting."

Frisk smirked even wider. "My pleasure."

Immediately, she charged towards them, everyone but Dan rolling out of the way, who clashed against her knife with his sword.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter for 2020. Hope you guys are having an awesome celebration.
> 
> Happy New Years! Here's to hoping this year starts going north instead of south.


	7. Blood At My Feet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit goes down. I'm playin' with some risky writin' ya'll.
> 
> This is the climax, bros. Get some tissues, guys, especially you, Queeny. We got some feels, and like, all the angst. Thanks for the comments, kudos, and everything else! You guys are the real MVPs! (no idea what those are but I think they're good??? I dunno)

_Hosuh addressed Frisk, his previously only cold gaze now seeming to be in an ice storm, swirling with hatred and slight fear._

_"Okay. Ya know what? Let's go ahead and start fighting."_

_Frisk smirked even wider. "My pleasure."_

_Immediately, she charged towards them, everyone but Dan moving out of the way, who clashed against her knife with his sword._

\---

Hosuh rushed over to the four monsters and cast a healing spell on all of them, allowing them to gain their strength and their awareness back.

Sans glanced at him in confusion. "How... are you guys alive?"

Hosuh smiled. "Papyrus seems to have the ability to reunite SOULS with their bodies, even after death. He revived us, passed out, and we came to help. He's fine, don't worry."

Sans nodded and got back to his feet. "Alright, then. Let's fight them."

After around 10 minutes of fighting, Frisk deployed a new ability she'd found out about.

About three quarters of her LOVE left her body (about 33,750, 002) and formed more kids, made out of pure darkness, each armed with their own knife. There were about 33,750, but a single gaster blast from Sans took down about 600 then and there.

The LOVE dissipated instead of going back to Frisk, leaving her shocked.

Oof.

It was difficult to fight in the throng, but the things had terrible aim, and they had each other.

Asgore swung his trident through the ranks of minions, turning dozens and dozens to black smoke, fireballs spattering the crowd.

Thorned vines burst through the stone floors, piercing through a good 50 minions, wrapping around them, trapping them, grabbing them, and ripping them apart. 

Flowey disappeared into and popped out of the floor, diverting an unseen attack here, shredding apart another wave there.

Tendrils of fire filled the area, burning through minions like weeds, their remains indistinguishable from the smoke of the jets of flame as they continued their deadly paths. Jay moved with them, roasting every minion in his vicinity. (Which was a lot.)

Ann and Dan fought side by side, swords slashing through darkness, blocking knives and sawing through the army, leaving swaths of smoke in the wake of their dangerous dance.

Glowing spears zipped around, impaling hundreds of minions in one go, leaving trails of smoke and cyan behind them. Undyne fought through the throng, slashing and stabbing, knives bouncing harmlessly off her armor.

Water was grabbed from the air, racing around, turning to flying ice spikes to a slashing ice sword to unbalancing sheets of ice slid underfoot. Jo used it as an extension of himself, pushing and pulling the element to his will.

A boy with silver hair and frosted eyes rushed between his allies-friends-family, healing wounds and forming shields with whispered spells. Hosuh was a messenger, a helper, a healer.

Sans fought with Frisk herself, awry blasters only wiping out swaths of minions, bones flying through the air, leaving smoking trails as they impaled dozens of minions each.

Glowing daggers ripped through the minions, joined by corpses breaking through the ground and clambering to go head to head with the sentient darkness, equal in their master. Stephen fought with everything he had, rage burning in his eyes and movements, an amethyst fire.

There was a very close call, when Hosuh fell over from the exhaustion of keeping everyone fully healed, awake, and alert.

However, Jay and Ann had popped straight up to flank him, attacking and killing any minion who dared come close. Meanwhile, Jo had used his minor healing ability (he'd learned in their first life) and helped Hosuh gain some strength back.

After that, Jay helped him back to his feet and they continued fighting.

They all fought like that: picking each other up when they stumbled, parrying an unseen strike to save their friend, telling each other to duck when a knife was coming at their head.

Undyne's spears and Sans' blasters, helped so much, but even such things couldn't cut down such a giant horde so quickly. 

Eventually, they were pushed into a tight circle, surrounded still by thousands of minions (and Frisk.)

Hosuh was barely staying on his feet, supported by Jay and Stephen on either side.

Even Sans was huffing.

Their combined efforts had only destroyed around 3,000 minions.

"Had enough?" Frisk snarked.

Any response the tiny group would've had was cut off by a loud, earth-rumbling roar.

Literally. The mountain shook around them.

Then, there was a stomp, from a foot that could only belong to something truly massive.

Something coming.

Then more stomps fell in sync with the first.

Great. Two massive things.

The stomps came closer, and a stalactite fell from the ceiling and killed 5 minions.

Heh. Losers.

Then, the massive beasts stepped out of the cave side-by-side, wings carefully tucked away to avoid them scraping against the rock.

Two dragons.

A pretty green-and-blue dragon, colors blended delicately across his scales, like a particularly scaly peacock. Some brown markings were gracefully splashed by his eyes.

The other?

He was tall and powerful, towering over everyone and everything in the cave (but shorter than his boyfriend). He had dark red scales blending with sooty gray on his underbelly, yellow accent scales framing his face almost like a crown.

Everyone just kind of stared in shock.

Hosuh found his voice first.

"Is that...?"

Jay's eyes lit up.

"PILLOW!"

The red dragon roared in response, and preceded to toast half the minions to ashes.

Pillow's cute boyfriend blasted fire at the other half.

Danplan and the monsters were suddenly not surrounded.

Frisk's eye twitched.

"Hey, Frisk. What were you sayin' about us having enough?" Ann asked with a grin. 

So Frisk may have ever-so-slightly underestimated the idiots.

However, in her defense, it was hard to expect dragons.

Now, Frisk only had about 3,000,000 LOVE, though it was still far from little enough for Chara to take back control.

But she could do something else.

She forced Frisk to release about 25,000 more minions, knocking her down to 50 LOVE but losing almost all of her own energy.

The dragons once again crispy fried all the minions.

Oof.

"Give up yet?" Flowey asked, panting, though Hosuh soothed that with a quiet whispering of a spell.

"She will pay for that." Frisk hissed, eyes open and glowing a menacing red.

Jay smirked ever-so-slightly, and his eyes glowed with reflected flames to match her intensity. "You won't get the chance."

They fought some more, until finally, finally... Frisk was defeated enough for Chara to take over.

Chara, however, hesitated in destroying the clump of darkness that was Frisk's SOUL.

(Like a dwarf in a flask...)

Then her hearing picked up a murmur from Hosuh.

"Chara, if you are merciful to the merciless, they will be merciless to the merciful. Flowey broke because of his situation, one he didn't want or mean to occur. But Frisk was always hurtful, started out wanting to hurt. Some SOULS don't deserve mercy."

Chara closed her eyes.

\---

Everyone threw Hosuh a glance as he murmured something in Frisk's(?) direction.

Frisk- no, Chara- opened her eyes, irises the color of rubies.

"Is Frisk-?"

"She's gone."

Sans nodded, and smiled at her softly. "Hey, Karrie."

Chara smiled back, tears in her eyes. "Hey, bro."

Asgore scooped her in a quick hug, setting her down with damp eyes and a wide smile.

Flowey popped out of the ground in front of her.

"Hey, Chara."

Chara gave him a smile. "Hey there, Azzy."

"Okay." Undyne interrupted with a small smile. "As much as I love this reunion, what about the barrier?"

"Oh, yeah. Good point." Dan said sheepishly.

"Preferably without taking anybody's SOULS." Stephen agreed.

San sighed. "Unfortunately, the only way is seven human SOULS and a boss monster SOUL."

Jo hummed in response, mind clearly elsewhere.

Dan glanced at him.

"I know that look. You have a plan?"

Jo looked up and grinned.

"Yep. It may even work."

"Okay, now you're crazy." Ann quipped.

"Aren't we all?" Jay asked with a smirk.

"What's your plan?" Chara asked.

Jo smiled. "Well, while Stephen and I were first in Toriel's home, I scanned some of her books- amazing historical records."

"Ugh, nerds. Yeah, I remember." Stephen said, rolling his eyes. "What about it?"

"According to a miniscule passage in one from a priestess or someone of similar caliber, the barrier can be broken with a power _equal to_ eight SOULS." Jo said with a grin.

"We don't need SOULS themselves, we just need a power equal to them." Sans rephrased with wide eye sockets. "...huh."

"So we just need seven humans and a boss monster to attack the barrier?" Undyne asked.

Jo nodded. "Basically."

But Chara shook her head. "I'm just barely able to stand. I can't be the seventh human."

"Maybe I can-" Hosuh began, but was gently pulled back by Stephen.

"Hosuh, you spent the entire battle healing us. If you do much more, you'll collapse. We've got a bunch of powerful monsters here, and two dragons. We can cover Chara, but just barely. We need you to help us break the barrier."

Hosuh began to nod, but Jo cut him off.

"Hold on. Chara's SOUL isn't here. Breaking the barrier can wait, but Chara won't last long here without her SOUL. Hosuh and I will use our healing abilities to keep Chara grounded for as long as we can. Find her SOUL. Hurry."

"Undyne, search Waterfall for her SOUL and check on the monsters." Asgore ordered. "Sans, once you've recovered, check Snowdin and Hotland."

Hosuh looked to Jo. "I'll join you once I get my breath back."

Jo nodded and crouched at Chara's side, put his hand on her shoulder, and closed his eyes in concentration.

"Where-?" Ann began.

"I don't know." Sans cut her off. "But we need to find it now."

\-----

Papyrus had finally woken up from unconsciousness.

He sighed as he remembered.

"...Mom?"

Toriel blinked. She hadn't heard that title in so long (did she honestly still deserve it?)

"Yes, dear?"

"...do you think they'll win?"

Toriel was quiet for a little, but then spoke, placing a paw on Papyrus' arm.

"Of course."

It wasn't an incredibly realistic answer.

Papyrus sighed and opened his locket. A red human SOUL slowly floated out.

Alphys gasped.

Toriel looked at with shock. "That's Chara's SOUL." 

"Chara w-won't be able to last without it! After t-they defeat Frisk..." Alphys trailed off.

"Chara won't be able to stay! We must bring it to them!" Papyrus said determinedly, rising to his feet.

"That's far too dangerous!" Toriel argued.

"You two are her f-family, right? If she doesn't have this, she won't last long b-before disappearing and dying again!" Alphys said, glasses shining slightly in the dark from being nervously polished.

The room was silent for a few seconds.

"...very well."

\-----

Hosuh rose to go join Jo, scooping up his staff.

An over-looked minion pounced from the shadows.

And although everyone lurched forward to stop the attack, it was too late.

The minion's dagger impaled Hosuh's abdomen.

Jo's hold on Chara's shoulder tightened.

The minion got hit with a tsunami of various attacks -bones, fire, spears, ice spikes- and was instantly vaporized.

But the damage had been done.

His staff clattered to the ground.

Hosuh fell forward.

Stephen just barely caught him, and laid him in his lap, tears glimmering in the light of the barrier.

Jay practically ripped off his jacket and splayed it on the ground, slamming rocks aside to make it more comfortable. "Lay him on his side."

Stephen laid him down on the jacket on his left side, shifting to keep Hosuh's head in his lap.

Instantly, Jay was at Hosuh's side, running his hands over the wound, muttering under his breath.

"It's on the right- fuck, fuck, fuck, placement means they got his kidney, might've grazed his liver -it did- _fuck-_ "

Blood bubbling at Hosuh's lips, turning his already pale skin to snow (blood spattered over snow, cold skin, lifeless eyes, _Ted-)_

"Internal bleeding." Dan whispered.

The wound was in his abdomen, missing his spine and only a bit under his ribs, on the right, destroying his kidney and grazing his liver.

"A shit load. He could've already lost 2 liters. If he loses 2 and a half, he's screwed."

Memories flashed through Hosuh's head- all the times he'd died before, watched his friends die.

It was... odd. Knowing he might not come back from this one/this time. He could taste the blood in his mouth, hear the desperate, fuzzy screams in his pierced ears.

Hosuh knew what he'd been up against, what he'd been through.

Hosuh felt pairs of eyes on him- green, violet, brown, amber, red, blue, all watching him with sadness and fear and horror.

His friends.

Nothing ever changed, did it?

"I-It's okay." He whispered.

"Don't talk." Dan ordered, voice trembling. 

Hosuh realized how hard mustering up the energy to talk was, so he obeyed.

"What can we do about the internal bleeding?" Ann asked. 

Jay cussed again. "There aren't any immediate ways to fix it. Unless there's a fully prepped operating theatre around the corner, we need a monster with strong enough healing magic to fix all the damage."

"Someone go get Toriel!" Ann shouted. Sans tried to stand but failed, only barely caught by Flowey's vines. "Too tired. Shit."

Dan leaped to his feet and began to dash out of the room, only to stumble and fall to one knee with a hiss. He ripped part of his jeans away, slashing a gash in his calf.

He snarled something under his breath to himself, ripping away part of his shirt, taking the resulting torn cloth and securing it around the room.

He got back to his feet and continued out of the room.

"How ironic." Hosuh said with a quiet smile. "I was just brought back to life, and yet I'm dying again only an hour later."

"You're not dying." Ann hissed.

"Let go of me." Chara told Jo, face unreadable. "Help your friend."

"No! Even if he dies, he can come back. You can't! I'm not letting more people die than I can help it!" Jo shouted, tears wetting his cheeks. 

He wanted so badly to go to Hosuh, like Chara told him to, but he couldn't have the blood of a child on his hands.

Not again.

Toriel, Papyrus, Dan, and Alphys burst into the room, a red SOUL hovering in Papyrus' palm.

Everyone but Dan froze at the sight of Hosuh, Toriel gasping before rushing over, crouching beside Jay, hovering her hands over Hosuh's wound. 

Whatever she found, she didn't like it. She let out a small gasp, tears wetting the fur on her cheeks. 

She took a moment to calm herself, then fell back on her knees. "I can only heal minor injuries. There's too much damage. I'm so sorry."

"Maybe we can cauterize it?" Dan tried desperately, back at Hosuh's side. 

Jay let out a small wail. "That won't help with all the internal bleeding!"

Stephen held Hosuh's hand tightly, trying to ignore the hot blood smeared across their skin and pretend Hosuh would make it out of this.

Papyrus had only recently remembered losing his siblings and it had hurt so, so much. He hadn't known humans could bleed too- Chara had died without blood, except for her glistening, bloody lips, but he hadn't noticed that.

But seeing a human actually die...

He scooted closer to Sans, who wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and buried his face in Sans' shoulder.

Toriel brushed a few strands of hair from Hosuh's face. "I'm so sorry, my child. I've failed you once again." 

Hosuh shook his head. 

"It's not your fault. It's Frisk's fault for committing genocide in the first place. It's okay, though. You've got your children back."

 _That's more than some of us._ Stephen's traitorous mind whispered.

"Papyrus, can you give me that SOUL?" Jo asked quietly. "I'm not in danger of absorbing it, after all."

The SOUL floated over and Chara absorbed it, glowing with ruby light.

She gasped, like breathing air after being underwater for so long.

Toriel and Asgore hugged her immediately, then kept their arms protectively around her as Hosuh slowly died, tears in their eyes. 

Jo rushed to Hosuh's side.

Flowey watched the scene with apathy, unable to care about the blood pooling on the stone, soaking Jay's jacket.

"My chances aren't very high, are they?" Hosuh asked Jay and Jo quietly. Jay looked close to tears, while Jo was already crying silently. 

"No, they're not. Destroyed kidney, grazed liver. I-I'm so sorry, Hos." Jay whispered.

Sans looked to Hosuh, eyes full of pain. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

"Celvina, Human-Monster War, the 1st Punic War. This has happened before, and it'll happen again. It's okay guys." Hosuh murmured, blood spilling down his chin.

"You said you'd come back." Papyrus said.

"I will." Hosuh assured him weakly. "Not now, but one day... I'll be back. It'll just take a little while."

He turned his head to gaze as Asgore and Toriel. 

"We were that weird group of humans that came to your castle before the war, remember? Jay- a missing King, Jo- a visiting prince, Dan- a swordsman, Stephen- a necromancer, Ann- a rouge, and me, Hosuh, a healer. That strange stone... it's the reason we could fight in the war on your side, despite having met you centuries before. So don't worry. We'll come back one day."

Toriel seemed to understand first, eyes widening. "You were... I remember now..."

Hosuh let out a soft sigh.

"Guess I came here to die after all." He whispered with a depressed, weak laugh. Ann snarled. "Don't you _dare_ say that. You'll be fine."

"You climbed to die, too?" Chara whispered.

Her family froze at her words.

Flowey unfroze first. Without a SOUL, he _couldn't_ care. Besides, she'd eaten those buttercups willingly, smiling, but he'd just assumed she was laughing away the pain again.

In hindsight, perhaps he should've figured it out sooner.

Asgore and Toriel stared at their child in absolute horror.

Stephen's tears fell on Hosuh's cheek, making him open his icy blue eyes again, their life draining away. 

"I'm glad you're here." Hosuh murmured. 

"Hosuh..."

Hosuh's eyes slipped closed, as if he was just falling asleep instead of having the last drops of life drained from his body. 

His breath stuttered to a halt, and he did not move again.

Dark lashes, never to part again, silver roots only just beginning to turn back to coal.

Chara's grip on Toriel's sleeve tightened, turning and burying her face in Asgore's chest. Her parents squeezed her tighter in the hug.

Ann's lips trembled, sky blue eyes squeezed shut, tears silently streaking down her face.

Dan was breathing slowly yet shallowly, tears slowly spilling down his face. His forest green eyes were like the leaves of trees that were hidden in shadow. He tugged Jay to his side, where Jay buried his face in Dan's shoulder with quick breaths.

Even the dragons dipped their heads in mourning.

"He'll be back." Jo whispered to them all in a trembling voice. "He always comes back."

Ann's only response was a quiet sob, to which Dan leaned over and wrapped her in a hug.

"Why can we never save him?" Ann wailed. "Celvina, Chang E, Cannae, Red Cliffs, our last lifetimes, now. Why!?" 

Nobody really had a good answer.

So Dan just hugged her tighter, running his fingers through her long pink pigtails, chin resting on her head.

Stephen watched Hosuh's corpse cool with an unreadable expression. "...no matter how many times this happens... it never gets any easier to bear. Why?"

Jay gazed at him with tears in his own eyes. "...I don't know." He began with a trembling voice. "I guess... I guess it makes us real. We can't watch someone we love die and feel less hurt just because we've seen it before. You died in Celvina then in the Kingdom of Sallow and we still mourned the same."

Pillow bent down to rub Hosuh's still face, then Jay's face, gently licking away Jay's tears.

Chara finally understood. Understood how her family felt when she died.

_"You are the future of humans and monsters."_

_"Chara! P-Please wake up! I-I d-don't like this p-plan anymore..."_

_"My child... please survive. I could not bare to lose you."_

Chara felt tears rolling down her face.

She knew what she had to do.

She'd tell them her plan.

Her family would learn the complete and utter truth.

They deserved to know.

After what felt like years, Stephen looked up, his eyes burning with determination, tears still streaking down his face like sorrowful comets. 

"I have an idea." 

Dan caught his gaze and realized what he was planning. His eyes widened.

"You can't." 

Stephen threw him a glare. "I have to try." He softened. _"Please."_

Dan sighed softly. "I can't stop you, can I?" 

Stephen tried to grin, but it fell short. "No. No, you can't."

Dan looked up to look him dead in the eyes, emerald gaze sharp and serious, yet blotted with sadness.

"Don't blame yourself if it doesn't work. Promise us you won't."

Stephen looked away. "You know me well enough to know I could never manage that."

Dan grabbed his chin and forced him to look him in the eyes. "Then learn to forgive yourself. Both for Hosuh and your first family."

He pulled his friend into a tight hug, pretending he couldn't feel his shoulder dampening from Stephen's tears.

"I'll try." Stephen whispered.

Ann dragged her head up, watching them with confused, cloudy eyes, like a sea in a quiet storm, an ocean of sadness.

"What's happening? Stephen, what are y-you doing?"

Jay figured it out, Dan could tell, from his shoulders slumping in shock and his eyes widening, pressing his tongue against the roof of his mouth like he always did when he realized something.

Slowly, Jay nodded to Stephen, and stepped away to give him room.

Dan grabbed Stephen's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Good luck, Stephen."

Then, he gently pulled Ann up, stepping back to reach Jay's side.

Jay slung his free arm around Dan's waist, his other holding Jo close to his opposite side.

And so, they sat there, waiting for the impossible.

Stephen placed his hand on Hosuh's heart, and his other on Hosuh's injury.

His eyes ignited into purple fire, glowing lilac.

The earth crackled, and the wind whistling through the caverns picked up, tossing Stephen's bangs around.

Ann froze, finally realizing what Stephen was doing, and covered her mouth, tears flung to the air by the winds.

The monsters watched on in shock.

Slowly, the winds receded and quieted.

One of Stephen's tears fell on Hosuh's face.

Hosuh opened his eyes.

\-----

"Hey, Elias?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it just me, or does today feel special?"

"...it does."

The two had been maintaining the old house, but it was big, empty, and lonely.

So they'd kinda become a foster home. They currently had an older tabby tomcat and a litter of three kittens.

They remembered what they'd lost.

Their friends.

But they knew their friends would be back.

It was just taking a while.

A little longer, that was all they needed...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the feels and angst. It's just literally impossible to stop myself from writing/drawing angst. Sorry, Queeny.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys! So I posted an announcement on 12/30/2020 at around 6 PM, talking about this book and some stuff about it. It's now deleted, but here it is.
> 
> 'Hey guys.
> 
> I'm using HTML just because this is a quick announcement instead of an actual story.
> 
> I have the next work in this series nearly ready to go, and I'm going to try and get it all finished to post at the same time an hour before New Years so everyone has time to ready it.
> 
> It's about 6 or 7 chapters, just like Crossroads Forever Linked, basically the direct sequel, while Dear Theodosia was kinda an intermission for some backstory.
> 
> I got permission from the person who had the original idea of the Past Lives AU to make a sequel (person is starsshiningagain on Tumblr), so everything is good.
> 
> I did put some hints for Warriors (the cat series) at the end just cuz and will probably have an extra chapter from their POV, or it will be a different fic but still connected, like Dear Theodosia.
> 
> If you guys want the fic posted at a different time or have anything to say, even just hi, go ahead and put them in the comments.
> 
> I think that's all???
> 
> (Chapters, posting, permission, the Warriors references.... maybe some reminders????)
> 
> Okay, reminders/inspirations.
> 
> The first lifetime they talk about is almost completely inspired by a fic by sircantus (here on Ao3) called Danplan RPG, but like, with less brain cells. It's an amazing read, and I hugely recommend it. I didn't put it in inspired by in CFL because there's a bunch of stuff I take inspiration from, and not all of it is from Ao3, so I'll probably go back and put in a section for all the inspirations at the end of my books.
> 
> Dear Theodosia was inspired by a fic that I can't find anymore, but was basically the same thing. I did try to make DT my own, not copy and pasting or anything, but the original was definitely 'Stephen goes through remembering his fam' but I don't remember if it had Dan and Hosuh reacting to Stephen remembering or how he lost his memories. It might've even been called 'Dear Theodosia' but I don't remember. It is where I got the concept of Ted's full name being Theodosia, though.
> 
> If you guys find it, please tell me, because it was an awesome read.
> 
> And some stuff for the new book: Gavin and Elias will be in it, but don't really do much. The story is set in the lifetime after CFL, and even though they're all together, they don't remember their past lives for a while. Obviously some Major Character Death, definitely violence, and a bunch of lore, though I still haven't completely decided on the crystals' backstory yet.
> 
> CFL is cross-posted on Wattpad but Dear Theodosia is not. I have the same username on every social media I'm part of, so you can go check my other stuff out if you want. I also feature on my friend's Youtube Channel- TheGamersHardware. We have a Minecraft Dalek Mod Survival series, a discontinued look at an Undertale Map because he got a new laptop and did a factory reset on his old one but forgot to move the video files.
> 
> I'd say 'oof' but we lost a hilarious moment where we kept getting kicked out of the server, he told me not to cuss, I started to jokingly cuss, and then it kicked us out before I could finish, which was a beautiful moment, now never to be seen.
> 
> Friend: Don't cuss.  
> Me: Son of a-
> 
> And then we got kicked and laughed for ten minutes.
> 
> (Social medias: Instagram, Tumblr, Wattpad, Pinterest, Twitter)
> 
> I think that's all???? Oh yeah.
> 
> This work will be deleted right before the new book goes up.'
> 
> Yeah, so I didn't quite reach my deadline. I still have two more chapters to write, one to largely edit and add some really important scenes to, it's 9:34 PM as I'm writing this, and I'm really tired. So I'm just posting how much I've done, which is a lot.
> 
> Happy New Years!


End file.
